


Her Fractured Spirit

by LadyHood



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2018-12-19 12:43:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 68,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11897988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHood/pseuds/LadyHood
Summary: It's been a month since Marie and Agent 4 rescued Callie from DJ Octavio's clutches. Life with the usually peppy idol just hasn't been the same. Lost in her troubled thoughts, Callie has holed up in her room and refuses to talk to Marie about what happened. As her cousin slips further into depression, Marie fears that things between them might never return to normal.Will she have to say goodbye to her best friend? No. She can't let that happen; she won't. Marie comes up with a plan; let's pray that it works...





	1. Inner Demons

It’s an obstacle they knew about since the moment they signed the lease papers, but as the Inkling with white hair juggles three bags of groceries in her hands, Marie can’t help but groan.

She _hated_ this stairwell.

Their apartment in Flounder Heights was average as far as living accommodations go; in fact, it made the perfect getaway for two well-known pop idols. It surprised people. With money at their disposal, after all, wouldn’t they pick somewhere fancier? To the few individuals that really knew them however, they knew that wouldn’t be their style. Their quaint two bedroom apartment, on the _sixth_ floor of the building—sigh—was where it all began. They moved here from Calamari County, a couple of aspiring ‘country bumpkins’ as the landlady had called them, to follow their dreams.

They weren’t able to make it big immediately, of course. They had to work just like any other Inkling to pay rent while they spent their evenings performing to empty coffee shops for exposure. It had been a difficult time, made worse when Marie came down with bronchitis and Callie took time off work to nurse her back to health, only to find out they had both been fired for their absence. Callie had stomped in to Human Resources by herself and while they definitely did not get their jobs back, fate had other plans for them. While they were on the assembly lines, they were just employee numbers to those higher in command, but Callie’s brash refusal to accept terrible labour laws introduced her to someone that would change their lives forever.

It still blows Marie’s mind that they first met their manager as a suit for Walleye Warehouse. Who knew such bland individuals could have a taste for entertainment? Apparently one Zaffre Swordfish had sat in on one of their performances at Arowana Mall and wanted to negotiate with them, but didn’t know who they were at the time. Callie stomping through his office door to give upper management an earful was just what they needed to catch a lucky break.

Marie reaches the fourth floor of the stairwell and rests her grocery bags on the railing, taking a breather. She’s not out of shape—the intense choreography she performs as a member of the Squid Sisters always gives her a great workout—but as awful as it is to admit it, she dreads reaching her destination. It makes her feel terrible just to think it, but after everything that’s happened… it’s hard to be around her cousin.

She’s been through a lot, Marie knows. She doesn’t know the full extent of it because Callie refuses to talk about it, but being kidnapped and forced to fight alongside the Octarians must have been soul-crushing. The fact that the hypnoshades completely took away her sense of agency made it even worse. Agent 4 helped Marie rescue her best friend, but some part of her was lost along the way. That light, that twinkle of mischief in Callie’s eyes—Marie’s not sure she’ll ever see it again.

Reaching the top of the stairwell, Marie steps into the hallway and walks down the length of it, coming to the far end before long. She pauses at the door with the faded silver numbers _619_ drilled into its center. _Okay. Deep breaths. You can do this._

“Callie, I’m back!” She announces as she opens the door and steps into the living room. “I went out and got some groceries; thought you might like some homemade burgers for dinner?”

“Ohhh! That sounds great! You’re the best.” The pink Inkling girl sitting on the couch replies and the smile Callie gives her then—Marie almost trips over herself in disbelief. It’s _genuine_. For the first time in a month, a spark of the Callie she knows and loves is there.

Marie’s not sure what changed in the few hours she’s been gone. Once an early bird, Callie has taken to sleeping in late, only rolling out of bed if Marie prods her to. Their manager put her on temporary leave so she could recover that “ _it_ ” factor that she seems to have lost, which did nothing to help her mood. Most days she hasn’t even left her bedroom, so seeing her out in the living room and… well, _living_ is a pleasant surprise.

“What’re you watching?” Marie asks as she shuffles into the open concept kitchen, putting the groceries away.

“Turf war broadcast. They’re playing at…” Callie hesitates as she gives the landscape a more discerning eye. “Sturgeon Shipyard, I think? Never been there.”

“It’s a recent addition. Apparently the match takes place on a ship that’s being built, but I’m not sure.” Marie shrugs. “I’ve never seen it myself.”

There’s an uncomfortable silence that falls between them as their thoughts naturally drift to _why_ neither of them have seen the new turf. Marie inwardly curses for the slip-up. She has to be careful about what she says, because almost anything could send Callie back on a downward spiral.

Thankfully, the television slices through the tension with ease.

_“And LadyHood takes the point! What a maneuver with the dualie squelchers! She’s covering up the middle with purple ink and shooting back to create lanes for her teammates to catch up. What great spatial awareness she has there, wouldn’t you say Marina?”_

_“Erm, yes Pearlie. She’s got Soarin and Corvus to back her up but—oh, should I say she did have that? Corvus just got outgunned by Octolad with the heavy splatling. He’s got a great perch up there on the mesh, they’re gonna have a hard time holding the line if he’s splatting them from afar.”_

“Wait, _Pearl_ and _Marina_ are the announcers? Since when?” Marie’s stopped what she’s doing, her mouth slightly agape. It’s been awhile since she’s personally watched any turf wars, but last she heard Sheldon was still doing it. He’s been the commentator for years; in fact, she had stopped watching primarily because the little guy had the tendency to go on descriptive weapon tangents. Discussing team composition and pros and cons of load-outs were fine, but the moment he started going into their historical backgrounds Marie usually muted the broadcast.

“INB is sponsoring this match, so it’s a one-time thing.” Her cousin replies, attention held fast by the screen. INB was, of course, the Inkopolis News Broadcast, which they were very familiar with as the show’s former hosts. Their tenure there led to many fun sponsored events, but commenting on turf wars hadn’t been one of them. “They’re pretty good at it actually.” Callie pauses as she watches two Inklings—Soarin and rvMatt1, what are these names?—duke it out in the far corner. They manage to splat each other, cancelling out any possible strategic advantage the other team might have gained. “I’m glad. The message boards haven’t been entirely kind to them.”

It’s not just the message boards. Their reception with the Inklings hanging out at Inkopolis Square have also been polarizing at best. It frustrates Marie, because in her opinion Off the Hook makes excellent competition for the eventual Squid Sisters comeback. While looking for someone to recruit into the New Squidbeak Splatoon to recover the Great Zapfish and Callie, she got the chance to watch them perform live in the Square. They have a unique style that fits in the music scene perfectly, if the masses would only accept them for it.

Marie gives a noncommittal hum, not wanting to press further into that particular subject. Inklings could be cruel to rising stars, and the last thing Marie wants to do is remind Callie of what happened when they first started out. She’s in a good mood today; let’s keep it that way.

_“Spyke’s just been mowed down by Octolad! He was doing a good job holding the middle there with his aerospray, but that splatling isn’t letting up the pressure.”_ Pearl says.

“Is he the crowd favourite? The cameras seem to focus on him a lot.” Marie’s had ample time to see the Inkling in question now—with slicked hair and tinted shades, he definitely knew how to look fresh. Somehow he rocks the yellow t-shirt and bright green sneakers he wears, though she’s not entirely sure how.

“There are a few all-stars in this match, but they’re focusing on him because of his rivalry with—”

_“And LadyHood delivers the killing blow! Octolad was NOT prepared for that sneak attack.”_ Marina almost sounds disappointed. Callie cheers as the match enters the final forty-five seconds.

“Well, I see you have a favourite.” Marie watches as LadyHood dodges out of the way of the new special tenta missiles aimed at her by rvMatt1, giving her a second glance. She’s certainly up to date with the latest fashion trends, looking like she’s ready to hit the skate park. Everything she wears is black, right down to the backwards visor and fingerless gloves with a yellow accent. She’s got a breezy look to her, like she dresses for mobility over anything else. For the most part, it seems to work—she jumps and dodges quickly and with precision, darting back and forth to help her teammates make the final push.

“She’s cool.” Callie says, as if that explains everything. “She and Octolad, they’re fun to watch.”

If they’re able to get Callie out of her funk, Marie is inclined to agree. Seeing her up and excited about something again, whatever it is, Marie is going to support wholeheartedly.

_“Final ten seconds on the clock, looks like purple team are going to lock in that victory! They’ve pushed green back to their lower territory, is there anything left they can do?”_ Marina gasps. _“Octolad and rvMatt1 have wrapped around the side and are making a push for the middle! They’ve taken out Spyke, he’s signalling for his teammates—LadyHood’s answering the call, she’s doubling back—_ ”

_“But they’re expecting it! It’s a 2v1 situation, they’re strafing back and forth and rvMatt1’s cut off her escape route with a clutch burst bomb! She dodges and splats her with the dualies, she’s now engaging in a firefight with Octolad’s splatling—3, 2, 1—and he takes her out! That’s game!”_ Pearl exclaims, jumping out of her chair. _“Let’s head over to some game highlights while Judd determines the victor_.”

Callie buries her face in a throw cushion, her words too muffled to understand as she flails about the couch. To see her so animated, it fills Marie’s heart with relief. Thank the ancestors; there was some hope for her cousin yet. She _can_ come back from this.

“I want green team to win.” Marie teases, sitting down to join Callie on the couch.

“You only like them because of their color.” Callie pulls the throw cushion away from her face, staring at Marie accusingly. Marie shrugs.

“It’s the best color, what can I say?” She grins impishly. Callie groans and smacks her with the cushion. “Fine, fine. Both teams are good, but I like Octolad. He’s got great spacing control with the splatling; you don’t see that with…” Marie blinks as the players’ rankings appear onscreen. “HE’S A C- RANK?”

Her incredulous outburst sends Callie into a hysterical fit of laughter.

“I’m guessing he doesn’t play ranked matches ever.”

“Most of them haven’t yet. LadyHood only just started playing competitively last week; she’s averaging B- at the moment.”

“Huh.” Marie frowns. “From how they were playing, I could have sworn…”

“That they’d place higher? Yeah, I agree, but I guess they’re not really drawn to rank battles right now. They’re a bit busy seeking each other out in turf wars.”

_“And the results are in!”_ Pearl interrupts. _“With a ratio of 44.38 to 42.23, it’s—_ ”

_“Purple team! Congratulations!”_ Marina claps her hands together. _“What an excellent showing by both teams.”_

_“That’s up for debate. I saw at least one member from each team deliberately squid jump off into the water at the start; that’s pretty dumb, if you ask me.”_

_“Pearlie, I’m not sure you can say that on live television—”_

_“And that’s all the time we’ve got!”_ Pearl interjects, clearly not giving a rat’s ass. _“Remember to collect your winnings from Judd in the Square, purple team. Until next time…”_

_“Don’t get cooked; stay off the hook!”_ The two singers finish with a flourish, posing dramatically. The screen goes black. Callie visibly deflates the moment it does.

“I know, I think their catchphrase is terrible too.” Marie teases, sensing the mood slipping fast. She desperately doesn’t want to lose that lightness between them now, not after its all-too-brief reappearance.

“That’s not it.” Callie mumbles, her shoulders slumped. She hugs the throw cushion tightly against her chest. The movement disheartens Marie; she knows what it means. Callie only does that when she’s feeling vulnerable and shutting down. “Their catchphrase is fine; it’ll catch on. It’s just…” She sighs. “Never mind.”

“No, tell me.” Marie implores, resting a hand on her cousin’s shoulder. It’s an anchor; a promise. _Let me be your rock_ _of stability_. “It’s important to speak your mind. You know I’ll always be here for you, right?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be.” She speaks so softly Marie almost doesn’t hear it. The green Inkling blinks in disbelief. This can’t be happening. For as long as she can remember, since the time they were kids Callie had always been the strong and confident one out of the two of them. Callie never let anything bring them down; she’d overcome obstacles with a sense of ease and determination that Marie honestly admired her for. As much as she loved to sass and tease her cousin, she always looked up to her for the strength and conviction she held fast to. This tiny utterance from Callie revealed something that Marie never believed—no, refused to believe—possible.

That even the brightest stars can fall from grace. That even the strong and unwavering can break.

Marie isn’t blind. She has seen the way Callie has moped about their apartment the last month, only doing the bare minimum required to survive. She knew it wasn’t a healthy way to live, and there had been more bad days than good lately. But still, Marie never realized the true extent of Callie’s self-loathing until this moment. She had been withdrawn and reserved, but she had never called into question their friendship before. Marie knew Callie well enough to know it had nothing to do with her personally, but Marie almost preferred that it did. The alternative was far bleaker. It was a sign that Callie’s pool of self-hatred ran much deeper than Marie could ever have anticipated.

Her heart prickles with pity and anger as she grabs Callie by the shoulders and firmly pulls her into a strong hug, crushing the throw cushion between them.

“Never say that again.” Marie feels Callie stiffen in her arms. “You are my cousin and my best friend. You are the most important person in my life, and that will never change, you understand?”

“I— ” Callie’s voice is hoarse.

“ _You_ ,” Marie interrupts whatever self-deprecating thing her cousin is about to say, “are worth it. Always have been and always will be. You’re amazing, you know? What you’ve managed to accomplish, the effect you’ve had on the world; I couldn’t be more proud. I know you want to deny what I’m saying, but listen. What you’re going through right now… it’s hard to come back from, but it _is_ possible. This isn’t you, not truly. I don’t know what happened to you and I promised I wouldn’t ask, so I won’t. But I won’t let you blame yourself for what happened anymore. This _isn’t_ your fault, Callie. It never was.”

This is DJ Octavio’s fault, Marie’s mind finishes. And she’ll never forgive him for it.

“Marie…” Callie whispers, thick with emotion. She’s shaking in Marie’s arms, seconds from falling apart. She’s not strong enough to hold it in anymore. “I was going to kill you.”

Marie doesn’t lessen her grip. She’s finally getting somewhere. Just have to remain calm… “What?”

“I told you to stay away, but you wouldn’t listen. You and that kid, Agent 4… when you reached Cephalon HQ, I-I was supposed to, I was supposed to…” Her breathing becomes erratic. “And I almost did! I didn’t care that my bombs would have killed him; if you hadn’t stopped me when you had, Agent 4 would be dead. _I didn’t care_ , Marie. I felt nothing. Nothing at all.” Marie feels the tears wet the fabric on her shoulder before she hears it. She stays silent. If she speaks now, Callie won’t be able to let it out.

“And ever since then I… I have _craved_ to feel nothing again. It was so much easier to wear those shades than to live out the mess that my life had become. Show after show, plane after plane, the expectations and demands of everyone around me—I was drowning, Marie. The pressure, the stress, it just became too much and I, I didn’t want to burden you with this, not when you were busy doing your own thing and…” Callie breaks out into heaving sobs, crumbling to pieces. She buries herself into Marie’s shoulder and howls. Marie immediately pulls her in, holding on tight as Callie rides out the waves of her grief. So that’s why she put on the hypnoshades a second time. It wasn’t because they were “fresh”; it was because they made for an easy escape from the overwhelming pressures of reality.

“We’re both idiots.” Marie sighs, stroking her cousin’s back in as comforting a gesture as she can manage. “For how we handled ourselves after the last Splatfest. I should have made time for you; I should have seen what was truly going on. You should have come to me when you started feeling this way, I would have made you take a break.”

“You were busy, I didn’t want to bother you…” Callie’s a little hard to hear through the hiccups and her shoulder, but Marie gets the gist of it. “You were so cool; I didn’t want to bring you down with me.”

“Heh.” Marie’s voice catches. “It’s weird hearing my own thoughts echoed back to me. I felt the same way as you did, believe it or not. Life in the limelight was—well, it is—great, but it came with its own set of challenges that I wasn’t prepared for.” She bites her lip. “Without someone there to ground me, I became arrogant and resentful. I enjoyed the work I did, but there was always so much to do, and seemingly no time to do it. I almost snapped, but then I’d see your bright face on television and see that it _was_ possible to balance it all. I was never the cool one, silly. You were.” Marie gently pulls Callie back so she can see her face. Her cousin’s face is red and puffy from crying, but there’s a hint of… something in her eyes that wasn’t there before. What was it, exactly? Hope? Relief? Marie prayed it was both. She gives Callie one of her best little smug grins. “You’re an excellent actress, by the way. I stayed up to watch every show you were in, even your five minute cameo in Mad Squid.”

“You did?” Callie breaks out into a watery smile. “How? It aired on the same timeslot as your ‘Studying with Marie’ segment.”

“Well, there’s a reason I procrastinated so much on that show…” Marie coughs. “I may or may not have been watching your shows on my phone underneath the table. Never tell the producer, he’ll probably sue.”

And then it happens—Callie laughs. It’s incredulous, raspy from crying, but genuine.

It’s possible, Marie thinks. We _can_ get through this. We will.

“Hey, how about you tidy up and I’ll get started on the burgers? They’re not going to make themselves, you know.”

“I must look terrible.” Callie sits up straight on the couch, wiping her face with a sleeve. Her sinuses are still running from the tears and she sniffles.

“I’m not sure that’s possible.” Marie lightly punches Callie on the arm. “But it will make you feel better, promise.” She stands up, heading back to the kitchen. Callie gets off the couch a bit more clumsily and bumbles towards the bathroom. She pauses at the door, tilting her head back so she can catch a glimpse of Marie setting out ingredients for dinner.

“Marie?” Callie says hesitantly. Marie pauses in her activities, giving her full undivided attention.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.” She flashes a tiny smile and slips into the bathroom to freshen up.

If her heart filled up any more it would burst. The green Inkling beams as she starts to cut the cheese with gusto.

~***~

The rest of the evening passed by peacefully, much to Marie’s relief. Callie had come out of the bathroom looking much more like herself around the same time Marie finished making the burgers. They sat back down on the couch, burgers in hand, and watched another turf war broadcast. Callie’s choice, of course. Marie was surprised to see that LadyHood and Octolad were in this match set as well—shouldn’t they take a break?—but the rest of the participants were new. They watched in silence in the beginning, enjoying their food (burgers were decent, Marie guessed, but she’d never admit it out loud) as the Inklings claimed turf on more familiar ground, Moray Towers. Once she finished eating her burger, making as many delighted noises as possible, Callie launched into an excitable tangent about the two combatants Marie could remember.

“Octolad switched out his splatling for a charger, did you notice? He likes to experiment with the different types; he’s actually pretty good with the weapon class from what I’ve watched. Not as good as Agent 2 though, of course. You’re a pro.”

“LadyHood’s gone 7-1 on her matches today, she’s awesome. She went dualie squelchers for all but the one she lost. How’d she lose? Well, she and Octolad swapped weapons for a round and ended up being paired on the same team. It… ended poorly for them.”

“Ohhhhh she’s going up the rails to take him off his perch. Ah, watch out! There’s an Inkling with a slosher hiding in the ink, I don’t think she realizes…Wow, that’s fortunate her teammate tenta missiled them as she approached, she got to pick both of them off. So cool.”

The evening continued that way with Callie’s colourful commentary until she started to nod off. Though she didn’t want to risk losing this newfound peace between them, Marie turned off the television and said it was time to go to bed. Sleepy as she was, Callie didn’t argue against it. She seemed reluctant though, and it took some gentle coaxing on Marie’s part to actually get her cousin into bed.

They said their good nights and Marie slipped away into her own bedroom, flopping unceremoniously on top of the bed. It took a few minutes to find that sweet spot, but when she did, Marie passed out immediately.

Too bad it wouldn’t last for long.

Marie wakes with a start as she hears the screams coming from the adjacent room and swears. She should have known better than to expect Callie’s night terrors to calm down with just one meaningful conversation between them. The road to recovery is long and full of potholes, according to the self-help book she had bought to understand Callie’s plight better, and for every two steps forward she might slip one back. Marie rubs her eyes and sighs, slouching as she readies herself for what was to come next.

It’s been happening since the day they rescued Callie from DJ Octavio’s clutches. On that first night and every night thereafter, she’s been plagued with dreams that left her in an incredible amount of distress. Callie never spoke of what she saw, and Marie’s not entirely sure she wants to know. The intensity of these night terrors varied, and it was the uncertainty of what she would be walking into that gave her pause. Sometimes, all she had to do was hold her cousin’s hand and the girl would settle down.

As she slowly opens the door and steps inside, Marie knows it’s not going to be one of those nights.

Callie writhes around on the mattress, tangled up in the sheets and wailing as she struggles in vain to free herself. Beads of perspiration mingle with the tears rolling down her face as she kicks repeatedly to unravel her bound legs, somehow making it worse as she twists around every which way. She’s muttering to herself, which is new, and Marie has to strain her hearing through the hiccups to figure out what she’s saying.

“I-I don’t want to do this… stop it, please…” Callie whimpers. “Leave them alone!”

Marie settles down on the edge of the bed, taking special care not to touch her cousin in her present condition. She has learned from experience _not_ to attempt to shake Callie awake in this state. The first (and last) time she tried, Callie decked her in the face. The strength of a roller main is not to be taken lightly; the impact left a huge bruise across Marie’s right cheek. It took days for Callie to be able to look Marie in the eyes again. Any attempt to assuage her guilt (Marie knew it was an accident, after all) fell on deaf ears.

Marie takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, tuning out the crying and mumbling to focus on the task at hand. This would work. It had to.

She starts to sing. It’s soft at first, cresting her lower register as she enters the first notes of ‘Tide Goes Out’. Then it builds as she reaches the chorus, feeling the sleeping Inkling become more agitated as the bed groans from all the flailing. A stray foot kicks Marie in the lower back, but she ignores it. She continues to sing as Callie sleep talks again—

“Marie… Marie’s here? No, leave her alone! I won’t do what you want, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

Marie peeks an eye open to find her roommate clawing at her own face, trying desperately to remove something that’s not there. Holy carp! That’s not what she meant to do at all! Marie quickly switches songs, singing the opening notes to ‘Calamari Inkantation’ instead. The panicked mumbling grows quieter. Marie’s a little hesitant as she reaches out with her right hand towards the fingers still scratching lines down the sides of Callie’s face. Gingerly she cups one with her own, tensing up as she waits for the punches to fly.

It never comes.

The effect is immediate. The thrashing stops and Callie’s free hand falls limp to the side of her face as Marie cradles the other on her lap. She doesn’t let go; she continues to sing and watch as the tension slowly melts off her cousin’s frame. Callie’s face, once a gritted grimace, turns into a relaxed smile as Marie finishes the chorus and transitions towards the end of the song.

Reaching the final verse, it’s Marie’s turn to smile as Callie sleepily joins in and sings the closing lyrics. Well, perhaps sing is not the right word for it, as she sort of half-sighs and mumbles her way through it, but still. Their voices harmonize for just a moment before falling into a collective silence. Marie’s shoulders slump in relief.

“Callie?” She speaks tentatively, no louder than a whisper.

The black-haired Inkling responds with a soft snore.

“I thought so.” Marie chuckles to herself. “Sleep well.”

While she would normally take this opportunity to slip away and cocoon herself in the comforts of her own bed, Marie found herself stalling tonight. She sat there, still holding Callie’s hand, and let her mind wander. She wondered on what she should do now, now that she knew more of Callie’s predicament. It was clear that her cousin had heavily repressed some traumatic squit and needed an avenue to release the negative build-up of energy she carried with her. Opening up and talking about it was definitely the first step, but that alone wasn’t enough. She needed to be _doing_ something instead of wasting away in the apartment.

But what could get her outside? Callie didn’t want to be seen in her current state, not that Marie could blame her. So far they’ve both skirted around the press and main thoroughfares of Inkopolis to avoid having to explain Callie’s absence. They haven’t come up with a cover story for that yet; they just knew they absolutely could not tell the truth of her disappearance or the ramifications would be huge. Never mind the fact that the residents of Inkopolis aren’t aware of the Octarian threat dwelling below them, but the few Octolings that have managed to be accepted into their society would probably get lynched. She might be their competition, but Marie didn’t want to see anything bad happen to Marina. She is an innocent in this, and does not deserve to be punished for the actions of another.

Marie’s thoughts drift to the previous day. It was such a pleasant surprise to see Callie up and about and _excited_ about something after a month of brooding in her room. The teasing jabs, the jokes, her smile that could light up the whole room… gods, Marie had missed all of it.

Wait.

That gave Marie an idea.

She tenderly places Callie’s hand down and scurries out of the room as quietly as she can. Riding on the highs of her genius, she returns to her bedroom and pulls her cellphone off its charger. The screen lights up with a picture of her and Callie posing with Judd the Cat, who does not look amused to be squished in Callie’s arms. Marie unlocks the phone and scrolls through her contacts, stopping when she reaches the name at the bottom.

She highlights it and pushes the call button.

It does not surprise her that it only rings once before the line picks up on the other side.

“Sorry to disturb you at such a late hour,” Marie starts, idly tapping her thigh with her free hand, “but I need to call in some favours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fanfiction, so let me know what you think. I promise it won't be all doom and gloom, but our favorite squids have some issues to work through first.
> 
> Let me know if you'd like a cameo in this fiction; the city of Inkopolis needs to be populated after all.
> 
> Thanks for reading. :D


	2. Crossing the Threshold

Marie hated alarm clocks.

It never mattered what time of the day it was; one shrill wail of that incessant beeping contraption could instantly sour Marie’s mood. A heavy sleeper at heart, Marie delighted in taking naps throughout the day and sleeping in until the early afternoon if possible. She could never understand why Callie was so insistent on waking her up at the crack of dawn. Something about missing the sunrise, breakfast being the most important meal, and some nonsense about seizing the day—Marie usually tuned her cousin’s morning spiels out. Can you blame her? When she’s been dragged out of bed, she’s hardly in the mood to tolerate _anyone_ ’s relentless enthusiasm for living life.

Marie buries her face in her pillow and takes a few blind swipes at the alarm. It takes a couple of tries, but eventually she smacks the snooze button and the room grows silent. Ah, much better. She sighs contentedly and allows herself to melt into bed. She knows that what she’s doing is dangerous—get too comfortable and she’s going to pass out again—but in this moment she doesn’t care. It’s seven thirty, for squid’s sake! No one in their right mind would willingly get up before nine.

She almost lulls herself back into slumber with that thought until the events of last night coming rushing back to her. Squit! How could she forget? Marie catapults herself out of bed and immediately goes to freshen up, ignoring the cataclysmic remains of her bed sheets strewn about the floor. They’re hardly a pressing concern at the moment; that can be future Marie’s problem. She does up her hair in its trademark do and pauses to assess herself in the mirror. She’s not aiming to be recognized today, but she did just operate on auto-pilot and it would take effort to fix so… eh. She finds the green cap she uses for her Agent 2 ensemble and puts it on. It covers most of the eye-grabbing silver hair at least. She’ll make do.

The cap very quickly decides the rest of her outfit for the day; she’s going full on Agent 2 mode. It’s never failed to hide her identity in Inkopolis before, and she doubts that is about to change. She tugs the fabric of her sleeve to straighten the green hoodie, tosses on some black shorts, and leaves her complementary shoes waiting for her at the front door. All right, she’s ready. Now comes the hard part.

Marie slowly cracks open the door to her cousin’s bedroom and takes a peek inside. She almost feels jealous that Callie’s room is still that much darker than hers; they failed to take into account that the sun always rose in the eastern sky when they first moved in and claimed their respective rooms. With her window facing the east, Marie always got an unwelcoming amount of sunlight beaming onto her face bright and early. Over time she learned to roll over and burrow within the security of her comforter. Callie always recommended she buy some blackout curtains to alleviate that particular issue, but Marie never got around to it. Not because it was too much effort or anything, but she usually just forgot.

“Callie? You awake?” Marie steps inside and approaches the still form lying on the bed. Callie appears to have cocooned herself again—willingly, this time—with her sheets and is partially hugging her pillow. Seeing her cousin look so peaceful and comfortable for the first time in a month, Marie feels guilty for having to intrude. It’s for the best, she knows, but still. She leans over and gently shakes Callie’s shoulder. “Hey. Time to get up, sleepyhead.”

“Mnngh.” Callie grunts, still fast asleep. She instinctively curls up into a ball. Marie doesn’t let up on the shaking.

“Come on, don’t make this difficult. I know I always wanted payback for the times you did this to me, but I can’t say I’m enjoying this.” This role reversal felt unintuitive and strange to her, and Marie did not like it. Did Callie feel this much remorse whenever she woke up Marie this early? For some reason, Marie didn’t think so. “If you get out of bed in the next five minutes, I’ll treat you to breakfast at the Mall. How does that sound?”

The promise of food always worked on Marie and both of them knew it; she hoped Callie couldn’t resist the temptation either. She did choose to be on Team Eating instead of Sleeping for a Splatfest, after all. Marie almost regrets not having started cooking something that smelled especially delicious to rouse her cousin out of slumber. Permeating her room with the scent of bacon would have been impossible to ignore. Marie doubles the intensity of her shaking. “Oh nooo, it’s an earthquake!”

Callie, formerly content to communicate through the occasional grunt, scrunches up her face in dismay as she becomes increasingly agitated by being shaken about. She lets out a pitiful whine and reaches to hide her face beneath the covers. Marie grabs the other end of the sheets and holds it steady so Callie can’t pull it up and over. Marie feels bad about it, but it’s worth the effort.

“Marieeeee….” Callie mumbles, still trying to tug at the sheets without looking. “Why…?”

“The early squid gets the fish, as a wise kid once told me… several times.” Marie recites the annoying proverb Callie always teased her with whenever she woke up too late to get the freshest deals to hit the Plaza. Food, clothes, whatever; Marie usually slept through them all. Fortunately, she had a cousin that loved to scope out the coolest knick-knacks and buy them as presents for her. Marie tried to scold Callie once about the frivolous spending, but her silence was quickly bought by a green and black designer jacket made of leather.

“No deals on Monday… let me sleep.” Apparently Callie has the same train of thought when she hears that expression. Marie’s lips form a small smile. It’s been almost two years since Callie last went on the hunt for sweet deals (her schedule as a worldwide celebrity left precious little time to idle about, and then there was her disappearance…), but she still remembers that they usually fell on the weekend. Though she hasn’t left the apartment since being rescued from Cephalon HQ, Callie must have been browsing the internet to keep up to date on the latest trends.

“Well, I’ve got a deal for you, but not in the traditional sense.” Marie loves being cryptic around her cousin, because it almost always drove Callie up the wall. Callie can’t help herself; she’s a curious creature at heart. The black-haired Inkling opens her eyes and squints blearily at Marie, who finally stops her ‘earthquake’ tirade and sits down on the edge of the bed. Marie sees the question forming in Callie’s eyes but remains deliberately obtuse, enjoying the unimpressed look being thrown her way. “And surprisingly, it _is_ on a Monday. What are the chances?”

“Marie.” Callie’s voice is much stronger this time. She must be waking up; thank the ancestors. Marie adopts her trademark mischievous grin to hide the pure relief she feels that Callie is actually giving her the time of day. “No mind games, please. What is this deal?”

“Nuh uh, it’s not going to be that easy.” Marie tsks, hopping off the bed in one graceful motion. “I have a proposition for you.”

Callie sighs.

“I’m listening.”

“So you want to know what this deal is, right?” Callie rolls her eyes at this, because _she just asked about it_ , but she nods an affirmative. “Great. How about for each step you take to get out of bed and freshen up, I’ll give you a clue pertaining to the deal.”

Callie’s expression is hard to read. She’s clearly torn between her impulses to stay in bed and mope all day or give in to her natural curiosity and find out what Marie is offering her. If this were any other day of the past month, Marie fully expects she would have been shot down immediately, and likely without a word. The fact that there seems to be an internal debate going on in Callie’s mind at all is a great sign. Their conversation yesterday must have made a difference, even if only a little bit. Change is slow but inevitable. It takes time to heal, and Marie plans on being there every step of the way. She extends a hand for her cousin to take.

Her heart is filled with warmth as a hand slips into hers, uncertain but trusting. Marie pulls her up and helps her stand.

“First clue: We’re leaving the apartment. Get dressed.” Marie wanders over to Callie’s dresser and opens the middle drawer, searching through its contents. She finds what she’s looking for towards the bottom.

“Um.” Callie eyes the clothes Marie pulls out with a hint of suspicion and… is that fear? “Why are we dressing up like Agents?”

Marie doesn’t feel like telling her the truth; that she was just too lazy to change her hairstyle. So she says something more reasonable instead. “It’s easier to be incognito in these. Nobody’s recognized us before, right? We can be whoever we want, act however we want... _do_ whatever we want, no hassle.”

“I guess…” Callie doesn’t sound convinced but she does take the proffered clothes. Marie turns around to give her privacy. “That’s a terrible first clue, by the way.”

“Fair enough. We’re going to the Mall.” Marie stares at the framed photographs adorning the top of Callie’s dresser. Marie feels nostalgic just looking at them. There’s a picture of them winning the Youth Folk Competition; another, of their debut concert in Inkopolis… and a few selfies of the two of them documenting their time together both before and after fame hit them like a tonne of bricks. She notes their smiling faces, so light and carefree despite everything going on around them, and wonders if it’s possible to ever get back to that state of being. She catches a reflection of herself on the glass of one of them and has to look away. It’s Callie that’s been through the wringer, but along the way Marie feels like she’s lost something of herself as well.

“Right, you’re treating me to breakfast.” So Callie _was_ awake when she promised that. Well, whatever works; Marie didn’t mind paying. “Is that the deal?”

“No. That wouldn’t require leaving the apartment, but this does.” Marie hears the shuffling of clothes being put on and then silence. “Are you decent?”

“Yes, you can turn around.” Marie does, and she’s almost overwhelmed by her feelings just seeing her cousin look like herself again. She still looks tired and a little grumpy, but there’s a lightness to her eyes that matches the magenta of her unzipped hoodie. She wears a lighter pink shirt underneath and matches Marie with the black shorts. She’s fussing with the beanie in her hands, looking down at it with a frown. “Are you sure this will work? My hair…”

“Will be hidden underneath as it’s always been. Here, let me help.” Marie gestures for Callie to sit down on the bed and she obliges, looking up at her green counterpart expectantly. Marie walks around to the other side of the bed and sits up on her knees, getting to work. She ties them up in their usual neat bow and asks for the beanie, tucking her hair underneath it. Marie readjusts the beanie so the gold star pinned to it faces the front. “There.”

“I want another clue.” Callie leans back to stare at her cousin.

“We have a meeting to attend.”

“A meeting?” Callie sits up straight at once, her back rigid. “With who? Our manager? Oh, I don’t think I’m ready to hear what he has to say, Marie. I know he means well, but…” Marie knows what Callie was leading up to before trailing off. Being told that she had lost her “ _it_ ” factor… it crushed her spirit.

“It’s not Zaffre, and that’s all I’m saying.” Marie reassures her. “Now let’s go. Our meeting is at ten, so we’ll have to take the sky train if we want to make it on time.”

Marie gets up and moves over to stand before Callie, who now seems to be fixated on the top drawer of the dresser. She follows the glance and raises a brow.

“I can’t.” Callie whispers suddenly, fists clenching her bed sheets. “I can’t do it.”

“Can’t do what?” Marie asks softly. Callie looks like she wants to cry. Oh, no.

“I can’t… wear them.” The dark-haired Inkling mutters, biting her lip. She looks ashamed. Marie frowns. She can’t wear what? It takes a moment for the implication to register. _Right_. Callie’s Agent ensemble includes a pair of shades; it’s a signature part of her look. She always looked so fresh in them. Marie should have guessed that she’d have an aversion to them now after everything that’s happened. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so lazy with her own preparations…

“Then don’t.” Marie says decisively. “We’ll swap; it’ll be fine.” While their clothes definitely helped with blending in, it was the shades and face mask that truly hid their identities. If Callie didn’t want to wear her shades, hopefully she’ll settle for Marie’s white face mask instead. Marie leaves for a moment to retrieve the cloth from her room. When she returns, she’s actually carrying two different pieces of fabric.

“I don’t know if I can pull this off quite as well.” Callie admits, taking the face mask from Marie’s hands.

“Nonsense. You’ll do better.” Marie assures her, and honestly she completely believes it. Callie had a way of making almost anything look good on her. “I also brought this bandana for whenever you’d like to eat, because it’s pretty much impossible to do that while wearing the face mask.”

“Why give me both then?” It’s a reasonable question Callie asks, and not one Marie’s going to answer.

“You’ll see. Put the bandana on for now.” Callie obliges, tying the simple black bandana around her face. It rests on her nose and covers her mouth. Marie gives her an appraising look. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d have no idea that was you under there.”

“That’s… comforting.” Callie is staring down at the bandana, feeling it absentmindedly with her fingers. It feels foreign to have something blocking the lower half of her face. Marie walks over to the dresser again, this time checking out the top drawer. Sure enough it’s full of random little knick-knacks, jewellery, and a contentious pair of shades. Marie picks it up gingerly and puts them on, all the while aware of Callie’s unflinching gaze watching her. The room magically gets a lot darker, tinted by the glass that now rests an inch from her eyes. “If I didn’t know any better,” Callie speaks up, “I wouldn’t recognize you either.”

“Great.” Marie blinks rapidly, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the darker environment. Once they do, she offers an arm out to her cousin. Callie slowly accepts and links arms with her. “Now let’s see what Monday has to offer us, hmm?”

“O-okay.”

Marie leads them out of Callie’s bedroom and to the entrance of the apartment, where they both slip on their shoes. Marie unlocks the door and opens it, gesturing for Callie to go outside. The girl hesitates, clearly nervous about leaving their safe little abode.

“It’ll be fine, I promise. I won’t leave your side.” Marie steps through the threshold first and turns around, extending her hand out again. Callie stares at the hand blankly, her legs locked in place.

“It happened outside Ancho-V Games…” Callie says quietly. “That was the last I saw before—” Deep breaths.

“We’re not going anywhere near there.” Marie states firmly. Inwardly she’s shocked about that announcement—Ancho-V Games is on a main thoroughfare! She was abducted there?—but Callie needs her to be strong right now. She remains calm and confident as she flexes her fingers, still offering her hand. “No one will know who we are, either. I got you.”

“I don’t know…” Callie fiddles with the hem of her hoodie to distract herself. “This meeting, is it—”

“Important? _Very_. And we can’t reschedule.” Marie asserts quickly. She can’t let Callie convince herself into not going; she can see her cousin’s doubt trying to take precedence. Not happening. “It’ll be worth the effort, I guarantee it. Also, free breakfast anywhere you like! Let’s go.” Marie leans in and gently pulls one of Callie’s hands off her hoodie, giving her a tentative tug. Callie allows herself to be led outside, but she looks mutely terrified. Marie locks their apartment door and slips her hand back into Callie’s, leading her down the hallway and towards that damn stairwell.

Ugh. They could never escape it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your support fellow squid kids! I didn't expect this to gain traction as quickly as it did, and I've loved being able to chat with some of you on here and on Tumblr. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> Next chapter is probably going to be a little different. How so, you ask? Stay tuned... /makes ominous spooky ghost noises


	3. Burnt Bridges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of y'all were worried I was going to make you cry this chapter. Hopefully it's not with disappointment LOL.

It’s a beautiful morning that the purple-haired Inkling steps out into as she leaves the main entrance of Arowana Mall, sipping a strawberry smoothie through a straw. Her back is sore from the strenuous labour she just subjected herself to, but her savings account is grateful for the patronage. She eyes the sky train as it zips past above her, and for a moment her legs flare with jealousy when she considers the morning commuters sitting down and arriving at their respective destinations without effort.

She’s got no one to blame but herself for her current predicament though. After all, she’s the one that chose to walk home—as she does every day. She doesn’t have time to visit the gym between turf wars and work, so she squeezes in an hour long walk after her overnight shifts to keep her legs in shape.

While it might sound like she doesn’t enjoy this time, the opposite is actually true. It’s a great way to wind down after the hectic nature of her job, and it gives her the opportunity to daydream and strategize for her next set of matches. She’s reflecting on the match she traded weapons with Octolad—a terrible idea, she’s not the strongest with the heavy splatling—when her phone suddenly rings, interrupting her thoughts.

She doesn’t pick up immediately; taking a second to appreciate her ringtone as it almost never sees any use. She usually forgets to take it off vibrate. Callie of Squid Sisters fame greets her ears with the studio version of ‘Bomb Rush Blush’, one of her favourite tracks from the last album they put out. She idly wonders what became of the dynamic duo before she remembers that she’s actually supposed to answer her phone when it rings and starts searching for it in her bag. She accepts the call without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” She says, using her shoulder to hold her cell phone in place as she takes another sip of her smoothie.

_“About time you picked up, LadyHood! I’ve been trying to reach you for hours!”_ Lady recognizes this voice.

“rvMatt1?” She pauses at an intersection, looking both ways before she crosses the street. “What’s up? Why are you calling me so early?”

_“Seriously? Don’t feign ignorance with me right now, you know what you did.”_ rvMatt1’s tone is surprisingly harsh, and it catches Lady off guard.

“Honestly not sure what you’re talking about… I just got off work.” Lady sighs. So much for a peaceful walk home. “You remember I work backshift, right?”

_“Obviously, but you could have done it during your break.”_ Lady’s really not appreciating the accusatory remarks, especially as she’s not sure what rvMatt1 is referring to. _“You could have just told me you wanted to do it with him; repair some bridges with your cousin or whatever. Didn’t have to tell me you were too busy to join my team; that’s a low blow.”_

“I _am_ too busy to join any teams right now, that hasn’t changed.” She’s growing a little agitated. “Seriously Matt, what is this about? You know I would have joined your team otherwise. We work pretty well together, you being a mayo fan aside. You’ll realize that ketchup is the superior condiment someday.”

_“Fat chance on that one; mayonnaise is legally better now.”_ rvMatt1 teases. Lady bites her lip to keep from retorting back. The Splatfest rules were sometimes really kooky, and she disliked the clause that stated what the winning team fought for was lawfully superior to the losing team. She was grateful that this rule didn’t exist during the season of Splatfests two years ago. While she didn’t care about most of them, the final Splatfest—the fabled Callie versus Marie, a bloodbath of the ages—would have ended with a lot more salt if that rule was in place. Callie and Marie were equally awesome, and Lady would never support a clause that suggested otherwise. _“But really? You have no idea?”_

That’s what I’ve been saying the whole time!—is what the inner exasperated voice of her mind wishes to say, but she settles for a much simpler “No.”

_“Ohhhh boy, that makes this a lot more awkward.”_ rvMatt1 coughs, and Lady can hear some shuffling on the other end of the line. _“Well, you were bound to find out eventually, I guess. Check Splatnet when you can. Sorry for getting up in your face about it.”_

“Uh… hold on.” Lady puts rvMatt1 on speaker so she can use the screen of her phone. She’s grateful that Inkopolis is a giant WiFi hotspot as she doesn’t have a data plan yet (and she probably never will, to be frank). Lady steps off to the side so that she’s out of the way of other morning pedestrians. It’s a personal pet peeve of hers when people are distracted when walking—or worse, driving—because they’re too preoccupied with their phones. She’s not about to be a hypocrite.

She loads up Splatnet and stares blankly at her profile page. “What am I looking for exactly?”

_“Scroll down, you’ll see it.”_ That almost sounds ominous. She finds herself unsettled but follows rvMatt1’s instructions anyway. Grizzco is hiring, that’s nice; there’s some fresh gear available to order… current stage rotation for turf war is Moray Towers and Musselforge Fitness, okay. Lady raises a brow. What is she supposed to be seeing here?

She takes another sip of her smoothie as her eyes glaze over the registered participants of the upcoming League season, finding some familiar names amongst the rabble. She finds rvMatt1 about halfway down the list, paired up with some guy named Marny, and the system matched them with another pair. She’s not sure who Clauds and [NSS]Agent4 are; she’s never heard of them (or Marny, for that matter).

She’s almost at the bottom of the list now. Is Matt trolling her again? Lady wouldn’t put it past her; the cheeky Inkling girl went to great lengths to get a reaction wherever Lady was concerned. They were once hired together to work a job offshore for Grizzco Industries, which seemed like a good idea at the time, until rvMatt1 deliberately kept jumping into the water and spamming her headset with frantic “HELP!” messages. Later that day, when they played turf war on the same team, rvMatt1 swam around as a squid without inking for the first two minutes of the match, instead taking a scenic route around Moray Towers. It was both amusing and infuriating to say the least.

Her phone won’t let her scroll down anymore; she’s reached the end. Huh. Lady reads the last minute additions to the roster and proceeds to spit-take her very delicious (and quite expensive) smoothie across the screen.

Shit! She wipes it off with her sleeve, cursing all the while. A mother Inkling carrying her small child gives her a patronizing look as she walks by, shaking her head in disapproval.

_“I guess you found it, yeah?”_ rvMatt1 laughs.

“I’m going to kill him.” Lady growls in response.

_“Ya know, I was upset with you at first because I thought you lied to me, but honestly this might be the best thing ever. Good luck with that.”_ Always the supportive one, that rvMatt1.

“Sure…” She’s a little stunned. She never thought her cousin would be so brazen as to sign her up for a League season without asking her permission first. “I gotta go. Catch you later?”

_“Definitely. Keep me up to date on this; I wanna see how it plays out. Stay fresh, Lady.”_ A click signifies the call has ended. Just as well; Lady’s not sure she has the mental capacity to continue a conversation right now. There are more pressing matters at hand.

The most pressing of all, of course, being the fact that Octolad just signed them up for League.

Oh, the next time she sees him… there will be hell to pay.

Lady jams the phone back in her bag and walks back home in a huff. According to the app, she was scheduled to meet up with her team in three hours. That left her just enough time to get home and shower before she had to pop back out to… Arowana Mall. _Great_. She might as well have never left in the first place.

So much for sleeping today. Tonight’s backshift was going to suck.

 

~***~

 

Freshly showered and now sporting a look more appropriate for turf war—her work uniform would never cut it—LadyHood returns to Arowana Mall with her signature dualie squelchers in tow. She’s honestly not sure why she brought them, given that she has no intention of ever playing League with Octolad, but she dismisses it as a force of habit. Outside of working hours, it wasn’t unusual to see her carrying some weapons around. You never know when the next great turf war will take place, after all, and she’s stumbled into some amazing matches before.

She eyes the League roster again, staring at her assembled team and their assigned meeting place with a curious look. She’s never heard of these prospective teammates before. Who are Mar and Tina anyway? Lady checked their battle stats only to find that there was nothing registered to their names, and like Octolad they hadn’t even played a single ranked match yet. What the carp was going on? For all intents and purposes, this team shouldn’t even exist. None of these teammates of hers could legally sign up for League. So for them to be paired up together…

Maybe that’s why she chose to come here, Lady convinces herself. While giving Octolad a piece of her mind was always a great incentive, there was something more to this that she had to figure out.

Lady arrives at the food court, taking considerable care to avoid the restaurant on the far side. She just finished working there a couple of hours ago; the last thing she needs is for her coworkers to tease her about coming back. She’s about fifteen minutes early for her team’s ten o’clock meeting, so she expects to be the first one here. She’s surprised to find that she’s not.

The one she sees first—ah, her blood boils just looking at him.

_Octolad_.

“Fancy seeing you here.” She greets him, unable to hide the disdain in her voice as she shuffles over to his table. The green-haired Inkling boy looks up at her, his dark-tinted shades reflecting her furious expression back at her. His mouth has curled in disgust at her approach, and he makes no attempt at hiding it as he leans back in his best ‘I don’t give a squit’ pose.

“Lady.” Octolad says without preamble. She sits down opposite him, trying her best to calm her temper. The arrogance his stance exudes is making it _very_ hard. “You could have just shot me a text, you know.”

“ _What._ ” Lady clenches her fists under the table. “The heck are you talking about?”

“You didn’t have to arrange all of this just to talk to me. I would have answered the phone.” He rolls his shoulders back and shrugs.

“I doubt that.” She retorts, glaring at him. She had tried _once_ to reach out to him a few months ago… and he never answered. _Be that way_ , she had said. _See if I care_. It infuriates her that she can’t see his eyes; it makes her uncomfortable seeing her reflection in his glasses. “And don’t think you’re being clever by trying to pin this on me; I had nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah right.” He grumbles. “You’ve always preached about the rules and regulations to me, so I know how it works. I’m not an idiot, contrary to your belief. _You’re_ the only one that could have done this.”

“I’ve never called you an idiot.” Lady snaps, her voice quaking with anger. Perhaps in her head, but never out loud. “Do you truly believe that I would sign us up for League? I know you don’t care for ranked matches, and I see you around in turf wars often enough anyway. What would be the point? When rvMatt1 told me about the roster, I thought _you_ had found a legal loophole and registered us as participants.”

“That’s stupid. You know I wouldn’t have bothered.” Octolad tilts his head slightly, looking at her intently now. What exactly is he trying to see? “But interesting. You thought I pulled the wool over your eyes and yet you came anyway? Not what I expected to hear.”

Is he… is he psychoanalyzing her now? It’s been two years and he’s still his regular old obnoxious self. She sighs. Sixteen-year-olds are the worst.

“Wouldn’t be fair to our teammates if I no-showed the first meeting.” She says defensively. “And sit up straight. Slouching is bad for your back.”

“Yes mother.” She can feel the glare beneath his shades, but surprisingly enough he does fix his posture.

“Now look. I know that there’s a bit of bad blood between us, but there’s no reason to drag Mar and Tina into it. We can resolve this privately—or not,” Lady adds, seeing Octolad bristle at the suggestion, “but can you at least promise me to remain civil while they’re around? The last thing they need to see is our dirty laundry.”

“Fine, whatever.” He says dismissively. “It’s not going to be for long anyway; tournament officials are bound to take a glance at our team and kick us out. Don’t see this lasting for more than a week.”

“Fair enough.” Lady stands up, checking her phone for the time. Five minutes until ten and no sign of Mar and Tina yet. Maybe they were the ‘right on the dot’ kind of squids? As long as they were punctual, nothing wrong with that. “Hey, you want anything to eat? We’re in the food court, so take your pick.”

“If you’re trying to butter me up with food, it’s not going to work.” Octolad crosses his arms. He doesn’t even hesitate. “But I’ll take a large order of fries from McPrawnalds, please.”

“Sure thing. Be right back.” As she turns away, LadyHood rolls her eyes. _Of course_ he wanted something from her workplace. She’d accuse him of doing it on purpose if he had known about it, but she’s taken great care to keep him from finding out. If he knew, he’d tease her relentlessly about it, and after that he’d start to ask questions. She’d rather avoid that conversation altogether if she could help it.

“What is my life right now?” She mutters to herself, joining the line up at McPrawnalds.

“Apparently McPrawnalds, from the looks of it. Once you start working here, you can never escape.” A voice chimes in behind her. It’s eerily unsettling. Lady jumps, not having expected an answer, and turns around to see that one of her coworkers—Ronald, she recalls—has joined her in line. “What are you doing here, Lady? I thought you went home.”

“I did.” Lady sees the follow-up question forming on his face and intercepts. “Don’t ask.”

“All right then.” He raises his hands in surrender. “Nothing about work then, but say, uh… Lady? Wasn’t that your cousin you were just talking to over there?”

“Why do you ask?” Lady answers with another question. She really doesn’t want to get into it with Ronald; he’s a _major_ gossip at work. If she tells him anything, everybody will know about it by the end of the day.

“Oh, no real reason I guess.” Ronald eyes Octolad from across the food court. “Just wondering who he’s hanging out with today; they’re really cute.”

Lady turns at this and sees that sure enough, two female Inklings have joined Octolad at the table. Figures they’d show up the minute she went on a food run. She checks the time again. Three minutes until ten. She should still be able to make it on time. The line moves and suddenly she’s at the counter. The cashier stares at her expectantly, a knowing grin plastered on her face.

“Fancy seeing you here, Lady.” Yara teases, because at this point her existence is fair game to everyone that works here. “What can I get for you?”

“A vacation.” Lady replies dryly. Both Yara and Ronald laugh. She looks at the menu board and blinks, feeling uncertain all of a sudden. Should she get something for her other teammates? She doesn’t know them yet and therefore has zero obligations to treat them, but it’d feel weird to march back with food without offering them anything.

Well, that settles that debate.

“Okay,” she starts, “I’d like a large order of fries and…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed despite the shift in perspective this chapter. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled Squid Sisters in the next one. <3
> 
> Thanks for all your support! It's been a blast writing for the Splatoon fandom.


	4. The Meeting

Their adventure to Arowana Mall was blissfully uneventful, and Marie thanked the heavens for it. No one recognized them in their getup, much to her relief, and despite some inquisitive looks thrown their way—Callie had pretty much latched herself to Marie’s arm the further away from the apartment they got—no one spared them a second glance. Callie had been understandably tense as they walked over to the sky train station, averting her gaze from all passersby, relying on Marie to guide them both in the direction they needed to go. She did so without complaint, weaving through the crowds with ease and ensuring that she didn’t accidentally steer Callie into another Inkling or pole or something. While Callie had never been big on personal space before—many unprompted hugs came to mind—she was _huge_ on it now, and Marie would make sure she got whatever she needed.

The sky train itself was a little more awkward. A group of small Inkling children sat in the chairs opposite them, pointing towards them occasionally and whispering. Their matching dark navy blazers, white dress shirts, and red ties pinned them as students of the nearby Arowana Elementary School, one of the highest-ranked public schools in the region. Callie noticeably shrank at all the undue attention, purposely trying to ignore them by staring out the window. Marie was about to tell them to piss off until a short girl with cerulean blue hair wearing a floppy summer hat broke away from the group to stand before them.

“U-uh…” The girl stammers, having a hard time meeting her gaze. Marie sees Callie shift out of the corner of her eye, turning to face the unexpected newcomer. The girl is clearly nervous, but the moment she meets eye contact with Callie she seems to gain her resolve. Callie’s presence always had a calming effect on others, Marie recalls. No such luck on her end. The girl continues. “I really like your hats! They’re so fresh, where’d you get them?”

“Oh! Thank you.” Callie lights up at the compliment. Though they can’t see it behind the black bandana, they can hear the smile in her voice. “I really like your hat too! Perfect for the season.” The girl beams, touching the rim of her hat as Callie brings attention to it. “Our hats were gifts from our grandfather. He made them himself. Awesome, right?”

“That’s so cool.” The girl looks delighted. “I wish my grandpapa could make fetch clothes like yours. Mine just spends all day out on the ocean and comes back smelling like fish.” She scrunches her nose. The girl opens her mouth to continue talking but is interrupted by the conductor’s announcement that they were now arriving at Arowana Elementary. “Oh! That’s my stop. Staaaaaaaay Fresh!”

The cousins watch on in stunned silence, Callie barely managing to mutter out a goodbye, as the girl in the summer hat skips back to her classmates and lines up to leave the train. They hear some chatter among the children, mainly from a taller golden-haired Inkling girl chastising their apparent fan girl over her chosen vocabulary. “Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen!”

With the children gone, the passenger car becomes noticeably quieter.

“Huh. I was wondering if ‘fetch’ was the new slang these days. I’ve never heard it used that way before.” Marie ponders out loud. Callie doesn’t answer. Marie turns to look at her cousin, surprised to find Callie looking misty-eyed. “Callie?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.” She chuckles a bit; it comes out muffled through the bandana. “I thought we’d be old news by now. That girl… is our catchphrase still a thing?”

“Depends on who you’re talking to.” Marie shrugs. While it has fallen out of use in recent times, some people were diehards who refused to let it die. Marie certainly appreciated the sentiment, though she has to admit it had stung to hear it tossed around while her cousin was missing. Each time she heard it tore her heart apart. That, along with some billboards and their various television programmes, served as a constant reminder of what she had lost; what she had _allowed_ to fall by the wayside. It ate her up inside. “Off The Hook is definitely the freshest thing to hit the streets, but we’re still relevant to Inkopolis. Our manager made sure of that.”

Zaffre Swordfish has a strong business sense, there is no denying that. During Callie’s absence, he negotiated with producers of the various television shows she appeared in to stagger their respective release dates. Thanks to some quick ingenuity, the denizens of Inkopolis were completely clueless as to Callie’s real whereabouts, as she was still appearing regularly on television. They didn’t even know she was missing until several months later, when the Great Zapfish disappeared once again and Off The Hook broke the news during their daily broadcast.

“That’s good… I think.” Callie sounds uncertain. She looks torn on how she should feel about it. Marie understands a little bit. It’s a relief to know that people still care, but when all you want to do is hermit away, their attention is entirely counterproductive to your needs.

The train plays a familiar chime—it sounds suspiciously like a part of Calamari Inkantation, Marie notes—as the conductor announces their arrival to Arowana Mall. She hops out of her seat and offers her hand out to Callie, who takes it with much less hesitance this time and allows herself to be helped up. They wait for the double doors to slide open before exiting the train, stepping out onto the station beside the Mall.

It’s bustling for this time of the morning, much to Marie’s surprise. A lot of Inklings are rushing to catch the train, while others idle about and talk animatedly in small huddled groups dotted around the station. She honestly didn’t expect this much activity on a Monday, especially as the stores didn’t have any sales to boast. Marie takes charge and steers them off the platform and towards the side entrance to the Mall, where thankfully the traffic becomes a lot less congested. She checks the time on her watch. Ten minutes until ten. Good, they made it with some time to spare.

“So, just a couple of things before we head inside.” Marie starts, leading Callie off to the side of the empty vestibule.

“That sounds ominous…” Callie mutters. Though she sounds calm, her expressive eyes betray the nerves she feels inside. Marie gives her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Nothing scary, I promise. Just wanted to make sure we have our story straight before we meet up with them.”

“Them? We’re meeting more than one person?” Callie looks even more nervous after that announcement. “Wait… what story?”

“We can’t just go in and say that we’re the _Squid Sisters_ , can we?” Marie whispers through a hiss. “Trying to keep a low profile here.”

“Right.” The top of Callie’s cheeks turn pink. It’s very hard to see with the bandana covering most of her face, but Marie can recognize when her cousin is feeling embarrassed. “Go on.”

“For the most part our story will be the truth; that we’re cousins from out of town coming to see the big city. Easier to keep our facts straight when there’s nothing to lie about, yeah?”

Callie nods her agreement. “True enough. You’ve always been a terrible liar.”

“Pot, meet kettle…” Marie grumbles. She shakes her head. “Anyway, I came up with names for us. It’s important we stick to them, because—” Marie stops herself before she reveals too much. “Reasons.”

“Okay?” Callie just sounds confused now. “Do I even want to know what your creative genius came up with?”

“You’ll like this one.” Marie doesn’t react to the teasing at her expense. Normally she’d call Callie out on it, but honestly she’s enjoying this easygoing banter between them too much to care. “Do you remember that when we were kids, we’d pretend your tree house was a pirate ship and that our parents were the great scourges of the sea?”

“They’d always tell us to get down from there, but we refused because we weren’t going to be deceived by some treacherous sea beasts. Yeah, I remember.” Callie’s voice adopts a fond tone as she recalls the memory. “The captain goes down with her ship,”

“…and the first mate stands by her side.” Marie finishes. She grins as she sees the gears turning in Callie’s head. Callie gasps.

“You didn’t.”

“I did. What adventures shall we go on today, Captain Mar?” Marie’s tongue rolls on the r’s, drawing them out as a proper pirate would. She winks, forgetting that Callie probably can’t see it through the shades.

“I dunno, First Mate Tina, you’ve got the map and compass.” Callie responds, laughing. She sounds incredulous. “I can’t believe you.”

“You know you like it.” Marie’s smile grows wider as her cousin doesn’t deny it. “We’ll have to do without the titles, unfortunately, or we might get some strange looks. I just thought this would be easiest for both of us. Not hard to lie when you’re not really lying, right?”

Callie hums an affirmative. Seeing that the trip down memory lane has her in a good mood, Marie decides that now is the best time to get the ball rolling. She opens the glass door leading to the interior of the Mall and feigns a small bow. “This way, Captain Mar.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Callie says, but she walks inside without further pressing.

As they walk down the corridors of the mall leading to their designated meeting place, Callie can’t help but stop at the window display that proudly boasts a clothing line based on their brand. _Right_. Marie may have forgotten to mention that particular detail to her cousin; their friendship had been so strained over the past month that they didn’t really get the chance to talk much about anything.

“How long has this been a thing?” Callie’s face is almost pressed against the glass as she gives the display a discerning eye.

“Um.” Marie blanks on the time frame. Life had been busy as of late, and as she was so focused on rescuing Callie from the Octarians she honestly couldn’t remember when the clothes were released. “I’m not sure. Maybe a couple of months ago?”

The black-haired Inkling’s eyes sparkle as she looks over the mannequins. Dresses, t-shirts, hats, even shoes based on them! Marie notices that Callie has the _look_ and sighs as she pulls her cousin away from the display. She can’t let her get distracted now. She doesn’t want to ruin Callie’s fun—she utters a “We’ll go back later, promise” as her co-star initially resists the tug—but they’re cutting it a bit too close for comfort. If Marie let Callie indulge her impulses, they wouldn’t be leaving that store for at least an hour. As their meeting was in… squit, three minutes? They had to hurry.

Fortunately for them, the food court is just around the corner. As they turn the bend, Marie feels a trickle of doubt pollute her mind. Was she doing the right thing, setting all this up? Would this really help Callie? The girl definitely needed an outlet to deal with her repressed feelings, but she’s suddenly not as confident that this is the right answer. She can sense Callie tensing up beside her, hand grasping for her own again, and dread pools in her stomach. She looks around the food court and in particular towards the exit that leads to the parking lot. They could still bail; they still had time before—

Callie gasps.

“Oh my gosh.” She’s trembling, not in fear, but in excitement? “Marie, this probably will make us late to our meeting, but…” She leans in to whisper in Marie’s ear. “That’s Octolad over there! You remember, from the turf matches yesterday? Can we…?”

“Go say hi to him? Sure.” Marie rolls her eyes. Has she really not put two and two together yet? That’s the Callie she knows and loves; blissfully oblivious as always. “And remember: it’s Tina from now on.”

“Right, sorry.” For the first time since they left the apartment, Callie takes the lead and strolls over towards a seated green-haired Inkling boy. Marie is more than content to follow, enjoying the familiarity of falling in line behind her. Callie had always been the de-facto leader between of the two of them; most of the experiences they’ve shared, both positive and negative, were the direct result of Callie’s insistence to try. Their participation in the Youth Folk Festival, deciding to move to the big city, and enlisting as Agents 1 and 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon had all been Callie’s ideas. Marie, loathe as she was to admit it, lacked the confidence or courage to take those big first steps herself. She had neither the drive nor motivation to pursue what she wanted alone. She needed Callie there to push her; to keep her going.

No wonder she felt so lost without her.

“Hello!” Callie greets the Inkling boy cheerfully. It fills Marie’s heart with relief to hear that she’s being sincere. “You must be Octolad.”

“Yes, uh…” He jumps in place, startled by their sudden presence. He takes a sweeping glance of the food court and drums his fingers on the table. “That’s me. You must be Mar and Tina?”

Marie catches the look of pure confusion splash across Callie’s face—how does he know who they are?—and decides to step in.

“That would be us, yes. This is Mar,” she gestures to Callie, who waves as she’s being introduced, “and I’m Tina.”

“It’s nice to meet you!” Callie chirps in, immediately taking the seat opposite to him. He opens his mouth at this, looking as if he wants to say something, but apparently dismisses it as Marie settles down next to her.

“Are you looking forward to the League season?” Marie asks him. She hopes her pointed questions will fill Callie in enough as to what they’re doing here. She also genuinely wants to know what he thinks; she realized belatedly she hadn’t really taken Octolad or LadyHood’s feelings into account when she organized all of this. From what Callie told her, the two of them were fierce rivals in turf wars, but that’s all she really knew about them. That wouldn’t be a problem, right?

“I’m a bit confused, to be perfectly honest.” Octolad admits, scratching the back of his head. Marie can see both her and Callie’s reflection in his shades; they do look fairly well disguised, now that she can get a good look at herself. “I’ve never played ranked before, so I shouldn’t even legally be allowed to sign up for this tournament, but here I am. Is it the same for you two? I’ve checked out your stats, but you’re both blank slates as far as SplatNet goes.”

“Yeah, I got a call about it this morning.” Technically she’s telling the truth, though it was _she_ that made the call to Zaffre Swordfish to arrange it for them. Marie was never too picky on the details. “Not sure how it came about. I talked with a League official about it and he apologized for the error; he said that their team generator must have pulled our names out from the old database. He then told me that we could pull out if we wanted,” she lightly nudges Callie with her foot under the table as a hint, “and gave us until our first scheduled match to decide.”

“Don’t think that happened to me.” Octolad frowns. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve never played a ranked match before.”

“Never?” Callie echoes inquisitively. She’s wide-eyed, though Marie suspects it’s more from the realization of what she’s been signed up for than by Octolad’s lack of experience. “That’s odd.”

“I know, right? While I know that the only other way to sign up for League is for a qualified teammate to do it for you, I know for a fact that mine didn’t.” He stops drumming his fingers on the table and crosses his arms. “She’s a lot of things, but she’s not a liar.”

“Who is—” Callie starts to ask, but the question dies in her throat as a fourth Inkling joins them at the table. Marie just gapes as the purple-haired Inkling in a black leather jacket slaps a tray full of food down, huffing an apology as she swings down to sit next to Octolad.

“Sorry if I’m late, the line took longer than I expected.” She straightens the dark beret perched on her head. “But I brought food for everybody.”

“You’re forgiven for the lateness.” Marie says immediately, eyeing the food hungrily. They still haven’t had breakfast, and Marie had promised to treat Callie… but this totally counts, right? Nah, she’d treat Callie another time.

“Tina, she’s right on time. Don’t be rude.” Callie reprimands in a wispy tone. Marie spares a glance at her cousin. She looks absolutely enamoured and _terrified_ to meet the two Inklings sitting before her. Marie has to smile. Does Callie even realize how much of an effect she has on other people? She has no doubt that if they weren’t going incognito, these two squid kids would be a flustered mess around them. Most people were. _Unless they’re as clueless as Agent 4 was_ …

“Feel free to dig into whatever you like.” The girl continues. “I got a bit of everything because I wasn’t sure what you both wanted. Just got water for us to drink though, thought that’d be the safest bet.” She passes out the cups and sealed straws, handing a noticeably darker beverage to Octolad. He raises a brow.

“Is that…”

“Iced tea? Yes. I remember what you like.” It’s the way she says it, like some sort of concealed challenge, that catches Marie’s attention. Her tone seems to go completely over Callie and Octolad’s heads. What’s that about?

“Thanks Lady.” He accepts the offering gratefully. Callie and Marie echo their thanks as they both select nuggets and fries. It’s easier for Callie to eat finger foods while wearing the bandana, Marie knows from experience. Perhaps it’s because of the food, but Marie sees Callie visibly relax as she eats an entire nugget whole with a smile that reaches her eyes. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

They’re about halfway through their meals before someone decides to speak again. To Marie’s surprise, it’s Callie that breaks the silence.

“So… you’re LadyHood, right? It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh! Sorry, forgot I didn’t introduce myself. Yes, I’m LadyHood, but you can call me Lady if you like.” The purple-haired Inkling extends her hand out for a shake.

“I’m Mar.” Callie supplies helpfully, taking her hand. “And this is my cousin Tina.”

“Pleasure to meet you both.” Lady says, shaking Marie’s hand once Callie lets go.

“Cousins, eh? What a coincidence.” Octolad speaks up. He bears a shit-eating grin, one that makes Lady bristle at the sight of it. “Maybe we should name ourselves Team Cousins or something. This here’s my cuz cuz.” He drapes his arm around Lady’s shoulder, but it only stays there for about two seconds before Lady shoves it off.

“ _Don’t_ call me that.” She sounds exasperated, but she remains remarkably composed, if only for ‘Mar’ and ‘Tina’s’ benefit. “Fair warning, he likes to tease… a lot.”

“It shows in your play style.” Callie chuckles. Marie can hear just a tint of nervous laughter, but her cousin conceals it well. “I’ve seen some of your turf war matches broadcasted on INB.”

“Really? Did you see the one where rvMatt1 and I cornered Lady at the end of the match in Sturgeon Shipyard? Those were good times.” Octolad wears a smirk on his face as he looks dubiously at his cousin, elbowing her playfully.

“That’s the match she snuck up from behind and splatted you on the tall platform, right?” Callie asks, earning a grateful smile from Lady. “Her team won that match, if I recall.”

“Technicalities.” Octolad waves the facts away, stuffing a handful of fries in his face to hide the new frown taking up residence there. He munches and swallows them, adopting a more neutral expression. “It was what, a two percent lead? Not a big deal; it could have gone either way.”

“That’s fair.” Marie joins in the conversation. “But what might seem like a minor fluctuation can make all the difference on the battlefield. A stray shot or an indisposed teammate can cost you the game.”

“You need to rein in that friend of yours.” Octolad glowers at Lady. “Jumping off the ship ‘for the lulz’? Not cool man, poor sportsmanship.”

“She’s _our_ friend, or have you forgotten that too?” Lady crosses her arms. “I have no say in what rvMatt1 chooses to do; you know that as well as I do.”

Callie and Marie exchange looks. They know of the Inkling girl they’re discussing from watching her on television. While yes, her mannerisms in turf war were certainly eccentric, it didn’t warrant the air of hostility currently brewing between their prospective teammates.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Lady seems to sense the discomfort hovering over their group and hastily switches topics, “we’re here for League. You all talked about the weird scheduling, right? What are your thoughts on it?”

“It’s strange, but we’re willing to give it a go.” Marie replies. She sees Callie give a small nod of confirmation, which… thank goodness. This would all be for nothing if she didn’t want to participate. She could still opt out, of course, but Marie really hoped she’d give it a try first.

“Octolad?” Lady glances at the green-haired Inkling, who has settled into his former leaned back position again. “Are you kosher with this too?”

“I don’t know, what’s worth putting up with—”

“Money.” Lady cuts him off with a blank stare. “And exposure.”

Marie’s not sure she wants to know where Octolad was headed with that sentence.

“Fine.” Octolad concedes. Apparently it doesn’t take much to convince him. “I’m in.”

“I’d like to see how we function as a team before we’re fully committed.” Lady sits up straight and folds her arms on the table. She addresses them with a serious look. “Do you mind if we go for a few practice rounds after brunch? I know how Octolad plays, but I know nothing about you two, and if we want this to work…”

“That’s fair.” It’s Callie who answers this time. Her voice is steady but Marie sees the bouncing of her legs under the table. Is she excited? Nervous? Both? It’s hard to tell. “A couple of matches wouldn’t hurt.”

“All right.” Lady nods. Marie examines the girl’s face, looking for any hint that would betray what she’s thinking. With the exception of some barely concealed annoyance towards Octolad, Marie finds her very hard to read. That bothers her. Marie prides herself in being able to look past what’s on the surface, but so far? She’s not having much luck. Is Lady trying to hide something? Or is that just the type of squid she is? She dials her focus back in as Lady continues. “Let’s get down to business. What’s our team composition look like?”

Octolad groans and promptly face plants on the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new week, a new chapter!
> 
> Good eye on the ones who remembered that Mar and Tina are the Spanish names for Callie and Marie respectively. I was surprised that some people overlooked it, but I suppose it isn't necessarily common knowledge in North America so... y'all get a pass.
> 
> Greetings from Toronto! The roommate and I decided to take a vacation and explore the big city. So far it's awesome! If anyone has been here before and has any suggestions on where to go, I'm all ears.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed reading, squid kids. :)


	5. It Must Be Fate

_Holy squit_. Mar and Tina are _good_.

Lady is baffled by their results as she checks out their stats on SplatNet. She almost feels ashamed as she realizes that she and Octolad are nowhere near on the same level as their teammates. Sure, she placed highest on the last match for turf coverage and second highest for splats—Tina was the undisputed splat champion, averaging fifteen per match—but the disparity between their skill levels were frighteningly obvious to her. She’s not sure any of the others have noticed it yet, but it was only a matter of time before they did.

What is this feeling she’s having? Fear? Disappointment? Excitement? Perhaps a combination of all three? Before having met her teammates, she was adamant about shutting down this charade. She honestly doesn’t have the time to spare playing League on top of working overnight full-time, and she had already turned down rvMatt1 for that very reason. Unlike turf war or ranked matches, where she could hop in and participate in a few matches whenever she was available to do so, League adhered to a very strict scheduling system that did not serve her well at all. Most matches were scheduled to take place during the early and late afternoons every day, and while that suited most Inklings fine, she was always asleep by then to prepare for her next shift.

This was seriously going to mess up her sleeping schedule. Lady could already feel the deprivation settling in; it existed as a soft haze in her head for now, but she knew it would only grow more extreme the later she stayed up. She shakes it off, focusing back in on her teammates’ current conversation. Mar and Tina are complimenting Octolad on his use of the heavy splatling last match. Much to Lady’s surprise, he’s not lapping it up like the cocky squid he usually is; instead he accepts it in stride, thanking them for the nice comments. His cheeks are blushing red from the attention. It’s a far-cry from the “I know I’m awesome” version of Octolad she’s used to seeing. Modesty suits him far better than arrogance.

“We make a great team.” Mar says cheerfully, propping her unique splat roller against the wall. Tina murmurs her agreements, likewise resting her own special charger next to the roller. Lady has never seen weapons like theirs before. For all intents and purposes they were the exact same as any other in their respective weapon classes, but aesthetically their designs were far from the ordinary. Both were black with what looked like glowing blue circular diodes dotted across their handles; the charger bore green accents that matched the tips of Tina’s hair while the roller cover inexplicably also boasted blue LEDs that could be seen through the paint. Lady would love to know where they got them from, but didn’t feel like she knew them well enough to ask yet.

“Our team composition is complementary.” Tina nods, giving Lady a satisfied look. “Your breakdown of our weapon’s individual strengths and weaknesses when used together was quite helpful, thank you. You make an excellent strategist.”

“Thanks.” It’s Lady’s turn to blush. She can tease Octolad about it as much she wants, but Lady’s not used to receiving much positive feedback either. Whenever she wanted to talk strategy or plan out the optimal route before, her randomly assigned teammates saw her as bossy and rude and refused to work with her. The only ones she hadn’t heard that from before were Octolad and rvMatt1, thankfully. Her cousin might be full of himself most times, but on the rare occasions they were actually forced to work together, he’d actually take her ideas into consideration before the start of the match. He’s been pretty diligent about it today, likely because he’s also realized the competence and skill of their teammates. “I’m not sure it made a difference though. You two clearly know what you’re doing already.”

“I appreciate the thought, but…” Mar sighs. “I don’t know about Tina, but I’m _very_ out of practice. I could use the direction.”

“Me too.” Tina assures her immediately. Lady wants to disagree with them on impulse—can they really not see how well they play?—but withholds her commentary. If they felt like they weren’t playing at the top of their game, then that was probably true. And if that is true, then… holy carp. They had to be S-ranked professionals at the very _least_. Welp. Hopefully they hadn’t looked too deeply into hers and Octolad’s personal records; their ranks really left something to be desired…

“Guys,” Octolad speaks up excitedly, “we’re currently on a nine-zero win streak! Our team rocks!” He hoots and fist pumps into the air, delighted when he finds Mar copying the movement. “What do you all say to one more?”

“I was going to say meeting adjourned,” Lady replies, checking the time on her phone and wincing as it reads 2:00PM, “but if you all want to… I’d be up for another one.”

“Sounds good to me.” Mar says, giving her a thumbs up. Tina sees this and smiles, nodding along.

“All right then, I’ll sign us up for our last hoorah today.” Lady lights up the screen on her phone and gets to work. She doesn’t mind being the one that has to coordinate the matches; when Tina tried to set them up for one earlier, her account was denied access without explanation. They surmised it was probably due to the unlikely circumstances that found them paired together. As the only one with a qualifying rank among them, LadyHood was now exclusively responsible for finding matches, scheduling meetings, and checking in their team two hours before their official League battles. “Huh. A challenge notification just popped up on screen. Guess another team wants to play with us.”

“Who is it? Anyone we know?” Octolad tries to peer over her shoulder to see, but he’s a bit too short and her phone is out of view. He pouts but does not relent on trying.

“Surprisingly, yes.” Lady sidesteps out of the way and Octolad only just manages to catch himself before face planting on the ground. His balance on his tiptoes needed a little work. “Not sure you’re going to want to play with them though.”

“I must admit that does pique my interest.” Tina walks over to Lady’s side, and much to Octolad’s chagrin, Lady allows her to read the screen without issue. It’s hard to see what Tina’s thinking with those dark shades on, but the sharp inhale betrays her sudden discomfort. Lady takes a second look at the opposing team. What does Tina see that she doesn’t? “Hmm, yes. I understand your hesitance on the matter. It might be better if we decline for now.”

“What?” Mar sounds disappointed. She grabs her roller off the wall and taps it with her free hand. “It’s our last match today and it’s pretty much set up for us already. Why not humor them? They probably just want to take a stab at our winning record.” She winks at Octolad, whose face brightens immediately. He reaches for his heavy splatling and hauls it up with strong arms.

“I’m with Mar. Declining just makes us look like cowards or entitled squitholes. Let’s do it.” He grins at the bandana-wearing black-haired Inkling. She hums appreciatively at his support.

“You sure, Octolad? I know how you feel about rvMatt1.” Lady stares at him with a look that almost dares him to be confrontational.

If he were drinking a beverage, he would have spat it all out at the mention of _her_ name.

“I—” He pauses, an assortment of emotions streaking across his face. He settles down. “Yeah, let’s do this. Mattie thinks she can take _us_ down a peg? I’d like to see her try.”

Lady blinks at the nickname. She hasn’t heard him refer to her that way since the two were a couple.

“If you’re sure…” She stalls, waiting for someone to refuse. No one does, though she notices Tina biting her lip and reaching rather hesitantly for her charger. “I guess I’ll accept the challenge then.”

“Woo!” Mar and Octolad celebrate together. The former just looks happy to get to play another round while the latter… well, it’s clear that vengeance is on the menu today. Lady hovers her thumb over the ‘Accept’ button, taking another cursory glance at Tina. She’s collected her charger and seems to be mindlessly fussing over it. It’s in prime condition; there’s no need for her to give it a look over now. Lady eyes their two companions, for now content on talking about how they’re going to squash the competition, and makes her way over to Tina.

“Tina?” The shade-wearing Inkling looks up at her name. It’s hard to tell what she’s thinking or looking at when she’s wearing those glasses. _Just like Octolad_ , Lady sighs. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Tina replies, staring back down at her charger. She flips it over in her hands, eying the diodes dotted along the paint canister.

“You just seem a little… off.” Lady continues. She puts her hands up in surrender as Tina whips her head back up to glare at her. “Sorry if that came out rude! I’m just worried is all. I’ve only known you for about four hours now, but from what I can tell you’re usually cool as a cucumber. If there’s anything bothering you, I just want you to know you can talk to me about it if you want. Or, if not me, then talk to your cousin. It’s not good to bottle up your feelings, even if you feel like you’re sparing someone else by doing so.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I really am fine.” Her tone comes out sharper than intended. Tina frowns and softens her voice. “It’s not my business to share. If the team wants to accept the challenge, then so be it.”

“O-okay, if you’re sure…” Lady’s honestly not sure what to take from that. It’s clear something is bothering Tina, but at the same time she sounded nothing but genuine when she said she was fine, so what is this all about?

“I’m sure.” Tina confirms. She seems more resolved in her task now, hoisting the charger up with practiced confidence. “We’ll win this one like all the others. I’ll make sure of it.”

“All right.” If Tina wants to single-handedly wipe rvMatt1’s team, who was Lady to stop her? She opens the app again and accepts the challenge. A group conversation window opens up as soon as she accepts it, and the first message is—of course—a snarky line from rvMatt1.

“ _Glad to see y’all aren’t chickens ;)”_

‘Thanks for being our tenth consecutive victory.’ Lady types back in response. She grins as rvMatt1 replies back,

_“Rude. We’re gonna wipe that smile off your face, Lady.”_ Lady rolls her eyes. As her best friend, rvMatt1 really did know her too well.

‘Yeah, yeah. I’d like to see you try.’

Their conversation is cut short by the app randomly assigning their next destination for turf war: Moray Towers. _Greeeaaaaat_. Lady personally hated to play turf war there, but she had to think of the bright side; at least Tina and Octolad were going to be at an advantage on the higher platforms.

_“Ho ho ho, good luck with that one. Meet you there!~”_ Lady grinds her teeth at rvMatt1’s texts. They had a past history with this stage, one that mainly consisted of rvMatt1 sniping Lady from afar as she tried to sneak past her line of sight. Individually, this was likely not to play in Lady’s favour, but with her currently assembled team? She had hope.

They can do this. _She_ can do this.

“Our next match is on Moray Towers.” She announces, gripping her dualie squelchers tightly. “Let’s go!”

“Aye! Let’s kick some ass!” Octolad says gleefully, following his cousin as she leads the way. Mar echoes the sentiment, carrying her roller with ease as she chases after her teammates. Tina lags behind a bit, much less enthusiastic than her teammates, but following them all the same.

She hopes they’re ready for this. She’s not sure they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that this chapter is a bit shorter than usual; you can blame Toronto for that. The vacation was a lot of fun. I'd recommend to anyone visiting there to go check out the Royal Ontario Museum or Ripley's Aquarium in particular, they're awesome!
> 
> Kudos to anyone that knows why 'Tina' (ala Marie) is acting a little bit ehhhhh at the end there.
> 
> Also kudos to everyone for taking this journey with me. Happy 1000 hits! When I first posted this on a03, I didn't expect it to grow as fast as it did (or at all, to be honest). Glad to see there are tons of Squid Sisters fans out there.
> 
> Hope you all have a great weekend. <3


	6. Calm Down, It's Only Turf War

The shuttle ride to Moray Towers was surprisingly animated, at least as far as Team Cousins—no, they weren’t going to call themselves that, Lady grimaces—went. Mar must have been curious as to the reason why Octolad reacted in such a manner whenever rvMatt1 was mentioned, because whatever she whispered in his ear started a ceaseless explanation of that particular subject to come out of his mouth. For normally being so withdrawn and reclusive on personal details, Octolad was truly coming out of his shell today. Lady figured it was probably the company they kept; Mar and Tina were easy to hang around, and it was that sense of camaraderie that must have compelled him to share.

She only got to hear bits and pieces of their conversation, because whenever he looked up and caught her staring, he’d shut up about it immediately. But what little Lady did hear actually astonished her. She expected a diatribe about how Mattie and her family were the worst Inklings to ever walk the planet—he had said that once, in a heated moment, to the Inkling in question—and how they singlehandedly ruined his life. What he told Mar instead, however, was a polite recount of much simpler times; of occasions spent playing mini-games at the local amusement park and hanging out and watching movies together. They parted over a mutual disagreement, according to Octolad, which Lady knew to be a lie. It was not nearly as clean-cut as he was making it out to be, and even Lady herself still felt the repercussions from it two years later.

Lady closes her eyes and sighs. Maybe accepting rvMatt1’s challenge wasn’t the best idea after all.

“Hey.” She hears Tina’s voice speak softly in her ear and feels a nudge on her shoulder. “Don’t fall asleep.”

“Hmm?” Lady grumbles, peeking an eye open. She blinks at the unexpected closeness of Tina’s discerning gaze through her shades. She jumps, startled. Tina leans back, left eyebrow raised at the motion.

“You look tired.” Tina frowns. “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Oh, last night was fine; I’m just… usually asleep at this time of day.” Lady admits quietly. She’s not about to tell the world about her overnight activities; especially not with Octolad present.

“A night owl, are you?” Tina’s frown shifts into a grin. “Always nice to meet a kindred spirit. We’re so few and far between in Inkopolis, it feels like. Most people I know are early birds like my cousin.”

“I see the sunrise, if that counts.” Lady shrugs. “But you’re right, I am tired. After this match I’m heading home and jumping into bed.”

“You should have postponed or cancelled the match.” Tina replies in a reprimanding tone. “Don’t let people steamroll you into doing things you don’t want to do.” She takes a cursory glance at Mar and Octolad sitting in the seats facing opposite them. “Even if they’re family.”

It’s Lady’s turn to raise a brow. She crosses her arms and gives Tina the look; the one that says she knows a hypocrite when she sees one. Tina’s concern for her lack of sleep appears genuine, but there’s no way she doesn’t have ulterior motives for wanting to skip this particular match. Lady didn’t know how to read Tina’s reaction after she found out who their opposition was, or why she became so skittish immediately afterwards. As they arrive at Moray Towers, however, she suspects she’s about to find out.

They pile out of the shuttle bus, thanking the driver as they exit, and pause for a moment to take in their surroundings. It’s a beautiful day as far as the weather goes; there’s not a cloud in the sky and a fresh salty breeze is being pulled in from the ocean. The hot sun brings promise of the coming summer and of new challengers as students eagerly leave school and take up turf war as their first career choice. Every squid kid dreams of making it big and becoming the next hit sensation to sweep the world; few make it big, and fewer still ever reach global acclaim. That doesn’t stop anyone from trying though; that didn’t stop _her_ from trying, when she was fresh out of school without the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Lady grasps her dualie squelchers firmly in both hands as her team walks over to the circular purple pad at the base of the tower. The moment they stepped on that pad together—it’s go time.

“You all ready?” She asks, turning to face her teammates. Mar and Octolad look raring to go; Tina is staring off in the distance towards the other tower, once again sporting a frown.

“Let’s kick their butts! Ten-zero baby, here we come!” Octolad hollers, and Mar cheers as he parties in squid form between them. Tina turns back in time to witness as Mar joins in the dance, hopping around as a cute pink squid. It brings a smile to her face, Lady notices, despite the tension in her shoulders as she carries the charger in a death grip.

“All right you two, suit up.” Lady says, amused. They resume their regular forms, beaming at each other as they carry their unwieldy weapons. _At least they’re having fun_. It’s the first time she’s seen Octolad truly smile in years. It’s the first time she’s really seen him in years either, but she dismisses the thought from her head. “Our plan is going to be similar to what we’ve been doing since this morning but with a few tweaks. Tina, I need you to focus on rvMatt1. She’s a beast with that E-Liter 4K Scope and she’s going to rush to the platform nearest the middle as soon as the timer starts. Keep the pressure off us as best you can; you two are going to be pivotal in determining who claims and maintains center field.”

“Got it.” Tina nods and says nothing else.

“Octolad, keep to higher ground with your splatling until it’s safe to come down; I’m going to try to secure you a path up their left wall so you can really wreak some havoc in their territory.” The green-haired boy’s back straightens as he hums an affirmative. “In the meantime, keep an eye on Tina’s position and make sure nobody tries to come up the sides to flank her. Knowing Matt, she’s also devised a plan to take our sniper out of commission, so make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“I’ll do my best. We’re gonna kill this.” Octolad gives her the thumbs up. Lady feels a pang in the pit of her stomach. It’s nice to see him so enthusiastic and passionate while they’re on the same team for once. Usually he reserved that energy for the matches he was paired against her.

“Mar, stick with me. We’re going to push for mid early and try to scale up their side. If we meet resistance, which I expect we will, pull back and we’ll lure whoever follows into an ambush. Our main goal is to clear out the opposition and secure a foothold in their territory so they can’t push forward. We’ll create some lanes so our teammates can provide backup or, if necessary, we can use them to escape. Sound good?”

“Okay!” Mar’s eyes light up. She swings up her heavy roller to rest it over a strong shoulder. “I’ll do my best, Lady.”

“You’ve all been doing awesome today, so I’m not worried.” If anything, she was worried _she_ was going to fail them, but she wasn’t about to say that out loud. Her history fighting on Moray Towers with rvMatt1 on the opposing team wasn’t good. She hoped to change that today. She’s also concerned about the aloofness that has settled around Tina like a well-worn cloak, but she has faith that their charger main will pull through when the time comes. She hasn’t failed them yet. “Let’s show them why it was a mistake to challenge us.” She winks and steps onto the pad.

“Hoo-ah! Let’s go!” Octolad stomps onto the pad, swinging his heavy splatling forward like a battering ram. Lady has to step out of the way to avoid getting struck by the weapon. He throws her a sheepish look but says nothing. Mar raises her roller high into the air with one hand—how? Those things are _heavy!_ —and slams it down so hard Lady swears the reverberation lifts them all an inch off the ground for a second.

“Let’s crush the competition.” Mar says, and the wrinkles around her eyes show that she’s grinning broadly beneath the bandana. She steps onto the pad beside Lady. There’s a moment of expectant silence as the assembled trio wait for their teammate to complete the quartet. Tina hasn’t stepped on the pad yet; she’s still gazing off towards the other tower and biting her lip.

“Tina?” Mar speaks softly, stepping towards her cousin. “You okay?”

“Oh! Yes, I’m fine.” Tina replies, snapping her head back in their direction. Sensing Mar’s concern, Tina offers a small smile and slips a free hand into her cousin’s. “Just want you to know I got your back, Mar. Whatever happens, I’m here.”

“I know.” Mar whispers, brightening as Tina gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Thank you.”

Mar leads them both back onto the pad without further fanfare. The instant Tina’s sneakers tread across the surface, there’s a bright flash of purple ink and their vision goes dark.

They regain their vision at the top of the tower, emerging from the purple spawn point together. A gentle breeze rustles the fabric of their jackets as they wait for the countdown to begin. The other team hasn’t surfaced from their green spawn point yet, as a floating LED display shows them. Every mode, whether it was turf war, ranked, or league, boasted this feature before the start of the round. The floating screen would give them about two seconds of insight into the type of team they would be dealing with before the match started.

“Here we go…” Tina mutters under her breath as figures start to form out of the green ink. They stand at attention as they get their first glimpse of the opposition. There in the front stands rvMatt1, purple irises meeting eye contact with Lady’s as they stare at each other on their respective screens. Her face is partially covered by a bandana sporting a black and white skull design that looks intimidating with her side-swept hair. She’s wearing the same black leather jacket Lady is, which Lady is not all too surprised about—they bought the jackets together a few months ago, and they both look pretty damn fresh in them—but what stuns Lady _and_ makes her feel a little repulsed is the grotesque clunky blue and white sandals rvMatt1 wears on her feet. What in the name of their ancestors compelled her to wear _those_? They’re a crime against fashion, and they kill Lady’s eyes just to look at them.

rvMatt1 must have caught her horrified expression because she laughs and winks, giving a knowing look down to her feet. She poses dramatically with her E-Liter 4K Scope, shuffling her feet forward so that they are more pronounced on camera. She wiggles her toes and nudges the roller user beside her. The female Inkling rolls her brown eyes in response. Apparently she’s already desensitized to Mattie’s tomfoolery. She adjusts the large pair of black goggles that rests on top of her head as the timer counts down. Her outfit is blissfully reasonable compared to that of her teammate; she sports a burgundy t-shirt with the ranked battle logo emblazoned on it over a long-sleeved black shirt that matches her goggles. Lady recognizes the Takoroka brand pair of Orange Arrows she wears on her feet. It’s much bolder in terms of color choice but she seems to pull it off well. Giving her a brief second glance over, Lady can’t help but feel that this Inkling is familiar to her for some reason.

She’s not the only one on her team to recognize the goggle-touting Inkling.

“ _Clauds_.” The low growl of their usually peppy teammate catches Lady off guard. How does Mar know her? “She’s mine.”

It’s around the same time that Lady hears swearing being uttered under Octolad and Tina’s breaths as they eye the rest of their competition. Her gaze shifts back over to the screen. There is an Inkling wearing shades and a camo zip hoodie, which is nothing out of the ordinary, but his shoes bring her pause. Aesthetically they match the unusual designs of Mar and Tina’s weapons. Where are they getting this stuff? While they definitely look cool, Lady knows for a fact that nothing like them has ever been available at the market. Is this who Tina was worried about? It might be presumptuous of her, but based on their wares they _had_ to know each other somehow. She looks at his name. Right, he had the weird one: [NSS]Agent4. He’s equipped with the .96 Gal, which worries her. It might consume ink faster than a bullet train but it makes up for it in range and fire power. This guy is going to strike hard and fast, and in a direct confrontation Lady’s not confident she’ll come out of it unscathed.

The last member of their team she only gets about half a second to observe before the screen cuts away to an overhead view, but that half second is all she needs for her brain to short circuit. It’s not the white inky rider jacket that stuns her into silence; it’s the guy’s hair that leaves her gaping. The suction cups of his tentacles are on the _outside_ layer, lit by the rays of the afternoon sun. There’s only one other individual she’s ever seen with hair like his, and that person is a famous DJ that regularly hosts the daily news.

Holy squit. Marny is an _Octoling_.

She barely registers that he’s wielding dapple dualies before the horns blare and Mar speeds out of their spawn like a bat out of hell, leaving them all in the dust.

“Wait!” Lady jumps into action and chases after her, swimming in the roller’s trail of ink to catch up. She can hear the tell-tale _glub glub_ sounds of their teammates in quick pursuit behind them. When Mar reaches the drop off to the center she keeps going, jumping straight down into the line of sight of the enemy’s charger. Matt has assumed position exactly where Lady said she’d be, hunkering down on the ledge and taking aim with the scope of her E-Liter. From her actions Mar seems to hold no care for the threat of death from above, ignoring the sniper and instead flicking a long vertical stripe to the left towards the grind rails. Lady resigns herself to her fate and hops down, shooting around haphazardly to cover ground and to draw Matt’s attention away from Mar. It works as the line of sight immediately snaps to her. She imagines the grin on Matt’s face as she patiently tracks her movements, zig-zagging across the middle in an attempt to escape execution.

She hears the loud _BANG_ as an explosion of green ink streams straight towards her and in a panic she instinctively dodge rolls to the side. She bashes the wall with her shoulder as she rolls into it, grunting as her left leg burns in agony from the green ink coating it. That was close. If Matt aimed any higher up that would have been an instant splat, no questions asked. She limps away, struggling to regain coherency with her blurred vision as her strength gradually returns to her. Glancing back, she can see the middle constantly changing colors as a line of green ink is immediately covered by a line of purple ink before switching back. Tina’s got Matt occupied for the time being, thank goodness. She hears the _rat-a-tat_ sounds of a heavy splatling being fired in the distance. It doesn’t sound even remotely close to Tina’s position. Lady covers the ground around her and groans as she watches her plan fall apart in real-time. She anticipated that they’d have to deviate from it eventually, but in the first ten seconds? This is a disaster!

Knowing that Tina was widely susceptible to being flanked right now, locked in combat with Matt as she was, Lady decides to double back. She shoots an inert orb and activates it, spawning a rail that leads up to the ledge on their side. Her decision immediately pays off as she spots one of Matt’s teammates attempting to sneak up the side wall on their end. She bends her knees and launches herself off the rail and into the air, arcing over Tina’s head as she shoots at the fuse box behind her. The green lump of ink splutters and emits a low cry as she splats their assailant. Based on the short range of the opponent’s weapon, it had to have been Marny with the dapple dualies. It was a great play on his part; if she hadn’t decided to turn around when she did…

“Look out!” Tina’s warning comes too late. Lady has just enough time to swivel around and see the line of sight aimed at her forehead before her vision abruptly goes dark. She re-spawns at the top of their tower and curses. Of course Matt would get the drop on her here; she always did. Lady shakes her head and checks the overhead map. Center field appears to be in a stalemate with an equal amount of purple and green ink coating it, but the coverage of their territories heavily leaned in green’s favour at the moment. Whereas someone had taken the time to ink their base and descend down the ramps of the tower on green’s side, purple’s side was still remarkably bare. All right, she knew what to do to fix that.

Another teammate re-spawns behind her as she starts inking the top of their tower. It’s Octolad, and he looks _pissed_.

“That goddamn .gal user is cheating, I swear. No way did he get the drop on me like that.” He eyes the overhead map. “At least Mar’s making some headway on their side. Is it just me or is she chasing after their krak-on splat roller?”

“Octolad, less talking and more inking.” She shouldn’t even have to tell him that, but here they are. “Jump down to Tina and start covering the turf on our side. She’s exposed with us up here.”

“Yeah yeah...” Octolad rolls his eyes. If he weren’t carrying the splatling with both hands, he probably would have waved off her commands too. “Right away, bossy pants.” He dips into their ink and squid jumps away, missing the death glare she threw back at him. Squid Jesus. At least he followed her directions. She makes her way down the ramps, covering them with purple ink as she goes. She keeps a watchful eye on the action going on down below, grateful to see that their turf coverage was evening out now. That relief quickly turns into frustration as she watches Octolad abandon his post to chase after Marny. The Octoling isn’t even encroaching on their territory; he’s on clean-up duty from Mar’s earlier trailblazing. Not even two seconds later Tina gets attacked by the [NSS]Agent4 guy and has to pull back. The white-haired Inkling drops a splat bomb to cover her retreat. She’s able to get away, but the .gal user is in quick pursuit behind her.

Lady bites her lip in indecision. She wants to help Tina, but with rvMatt1 currently left unchecked, that left the sandal-wearing Inkling free to flank both Octolad and Mar. She knew that with Octolad focused on Marny and Mar doing…whatever it was that she’s doing, rvMatt1 could easily pick them off. At the same time, if she didn’t help Tina, [NSS]Agent4 was going to wreak havoc on the turf she _just_ covered. That settled that.

She whips out her tenta-missiles and takes aim at the enemy tower, angling it so she can lock onto three targets. As she suspected, Matt was on her way to snipe Octolad from behind. The instant she locked onto them she pulls the trigger and lets the missiles fly. She doesn’t even bother to watch their trajectory, tossing her controller aside and immediately swimming towards a more advantageous position. Tina is leading Agent4 up straight towards her. The charger main pivots and continues up the ramps, just out of range of the shooter, dropping splat bombs as she goes. Lady hides in the ink just to the side of the turn, waiting. The splatter of green ink he fires almost gives away her position but she holds fast, refusing to budge. As he turns his back to her she pops out of the ink and drops a full clip into him.

At the same time, he activates his ink armor special, whirls around in place and shoots her in the face. Once again, her vision goes dark.

She re-spawns at the top of their tower, quietly seething. Sometimes, she really friggin hated turf war.

Checking the LED display for the overhead map again, she feels a smug satisfaction creep up her spine as a notification that Tina has splatted [NSS]Agent4 appears on screen. Serves him right. She sees Tina get to work on reclaiming their lost territory. She also notices that Octolad is engaged in a firefight with rvMatt1 on one of the lower ramps. His icon emits an “Ouch!” signal as another green icon appears behind him and takes him out. It’s Marny. Octolad confirms it as he swears out the Octoling’s name as he reappears.

“He’s doing this on purpose!” Octolad growls, kicking their spawn point. “He knows I hate the dualies.” He blinks as he realizes he’s not alone at the top of the tower. “Oh, hey Lady. Having a bad match? I’m catching you up here a lot.”

“Shut up.” She glowers at him. “It’s my second time. How many times have you been splatted?”

His cheeks light up in embarrassment and anger.

“None of your business.” He retorts. He assumes squid form and swims away.

“That’s what I thought.” Lady shakes her head. She’s not making any headway on this map, just as she expected. She takes a second brief glance at the overhead view and sees Mar’s icon unobstructed on the third highest platform of the enemy’s tower. How in the name of all that is holy has she _not_ been splatted yet? She’s been holed up on their side since the start of the match, and half the round has already passed. Maybe she can make a push with Mar? Her decision made, she assumes squid form and jumps into the heart of enemy territory.

She’s greeted with the panicked voice of the enemy roller as she lands.

“What’s your deal? This is turf war, not a death match.” Clauds shouts, running up the ramp in an attempt to get away. Mar is _relentless_ , eyes glinting something fierce as she raises her roller and launches a vertical flick after her. The spray lands across Clauds’ shoes, submerging her Orange Arrows into a deep pool of purple ink. Mar doesn’t say anything, instead readying herself for another—this time deadly—flick. Clauds blanches at the sight. “Oh, fish fingers.”

Just before Mar can lay down the smack down on Clauds, the goggle-touting Inkling activates her special, encasing herself in a large hamster ball just in time. Protected from the flick and now familiar with the time it takes for Mar to lift her roller, Clauds sees an opportunity and seizes it, rushing forward with the baller. Her eyes are only on Mar and she fails to take into account the newcomer that just joined the fray. Lady dispenses a full tank at the baller from a safe distance, destroying it _just_ before it has the chance to explode. Caught in the crossfire, Clauds takes a dollop of purple ink to the face. She squeaks in pain as she is taken out.

“I had that.” Mar says immediately, throwing Lady a disapproving look for interrupting. She hauls up her roller on her shoulder and starts marching up the ramp. _In the direction of the enemy spawn_ , Lady takes note. Does she have some sort of personal vendetta against Clauds?

“I’m sure. What happened to the plan? We were supposed to stick together.”

“Plans change.” Mar’s tone is unexpectedly sharp. “Don’t expect everything to go the way you want it to. Life has a way of pulling the rug out from under you.” She continues to stomp up the tower, Lady following behind in a newfound haze of confusion. What the heck is going on? Where did _that_ come from? They make it up together to the second highest platform. Lady takes a cursory glance over the ledge to see if they’re being followed, grateful when she finds Matt once again tied up in a firefight with Tina. At least _some_ things were going to plan. Mar slaps her roller down and covers the platform in purple ink before ducking behind the large yellow inflatable block. Lady joins her, giving the black-haired Inkling a wary look. Mar catches her eye and stares her down. “What?”

“Just making sure you’re okay.” Lady says; her voice soft and unassuming as possible.

“I’m fine.” Mar retorts instantly. “Why wouldn’t I be?"

“Your abrupt change in attitude, for one. You’ve been on edge since the moment Matt’s team spawned on this tower.” Lady points out. “So has Tina, but at least she’s not being snarky with me.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Mar huffs. Her eyes are glaring daggers. “I’m handling myself just fine. I haven’t been splatted yet, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

“That’s not it at all.” Lady groans in exasperation. What happened to the happy-go-lucky squid that danced with her cousin before the start of the match? “If you don’t want to talk that’s fine, I won’t press. Just remember that I’m your teammate. I’m here to support you, whether on the field or otherwise, all right?”

“I don’t need your sympathy…” Mar mutters, more to herself than anything. She appears contemplative, like something is on the tip of her tongue, but she never gets the chance to speak.

“They’re over here! Let ‘em rip, Marny!” Clauds’ strong voice interrupts their conversation as she simultaneously slaps down a large horizontal spray of ink at their hiding spot. Lady grabs her teammate’s magenta hoodie and pulls, tugging Mar out of the way just in time. With her free hand she fires a few well-placed shots at the exposed roller and splats her. Her sense of accomplishment is short-lived as the Octoling from before appears from the top ramp and grins at them. Time feels like it slows down as the boy reaches for the launcher on his back; the movement innately familiar to Lady as a frequent user of the dapple dualies. He’s activating his special.

“Oh god!” Lady goes to jump off the ledge but stops as she realizes that Mar isn’t following her. She turns and sees the pure look of terror in Mar’s eyes; her body paralyzed with fear as Marny grabs the launcher and aims it straight at them. Lady rushes back and grabs a fistful of Mar’s sleeve, tugging as aggressively as possible to shake her out from her frozen state. It works just in the nick of time as a suction-bomb lands and explodes where she was standing milliseconds ago. “Run!”

The two go to swim down the ramp to safety but readjust their course as Clauds re-spawns and cuts off their escape from below. With no other choice Lady and Mar leap off the edge of the tower, Mar screaming as a maelstrom of suction-bombs rain down upon them. Marny follows them off the ledge, still chucking bombs as the two Inklings land on unsteady feet. Sensing Mar’s clear distress, Lady makes a split-second decision and shoves Mar further down the ramp and out of harm’s way. Mar loses her footing and trips, rolling halfway down the ramp before she’s able to catch herself. Lady hops back and dodges out of the way of a suction-bomb aimed directly at her. She’s caught in the blast radius and her vision goes blurry again as the green ink weighs her down. Squit. She’s screwed.

She raises her arms in a last ditch effort and pulls the triggers of her dualie squelchers just as Marny is about to lob his last suction-bomb. It pelts him in the face, splatting him instantly. Thank the ancestors. Lady stumbles like a drunk over to the ramp, taking care to avoid the final bomb Marny dropped. It explodes harmlessly in the corner. She looks down, squinting hard to see Mar’s prone form at the midway point. She reaches the beanie-wearing Inkling and widens her eyes in panic as she realizes that Mar has curled into a fetal position and is sobbing hysterically.

“Not again, not again! I-it’s all my fault, she’s hurt because of m-me…” Mar hiccups, unable to catch her breath as she falls into the beginning throes of a panic attack. “I stood there and did nothing, and n-now…”

“Hey, hey! It’s okay!” Lady collapses to her knees, the turf war around them instantly forgotten. “Nothing happened. I’m fine, see?” She slowly reaches for Mar’s back to rub circles on it. The black-haired Inkling jumps at the contact but the tension around her shoulders gradually lessens at the touch. “You’re safe, I’m safe. It’s just a game, remember? No harm, no foul.”

“B-but the Octoling, he-he—”

“—is actually playing turf war with us. Weird, right? I’ve never played with an Octoling before. I’ve heard Marina dabbles on occasion with Pearl, but I’ve never actually seen it happen.”

Mar splutters something out but it’s incoherent through her tears. Despite the situation, Lady can see that her teammate is settling down some. That’s good. Lady has no idea what could trigger that kind of reaction. She feels a swell of protectiveness come over her as she thinks about what kind of hardships her bubbly companion must have been through to break down so quickly. She’ll try her best to make sure Mar doesn’t have to go through that again.

Lady feels Mar’s back go rigid and her hiccups cease. Lady tenses as she looks up and follows Mar’s gaze. She’s staring at the platform at the bottom of their ramp; the one rvMatt1 is usually occupying. She’s not there; she’s either been splatted or making a push on their territory, Lady isn’t sure. The platform isn’t vacant, however. The camo-wearing Inkling boy is making his way up to their position with his .gal 96. Mar stands up, gripping her roller tightly as she plants herself in front of Lady. Lady staggers back to her feet, surprised at the sudden movement.

“It’s you.” Mar whispers. She shakes her head slowly. “That’s why Ma…Tina didn’t want us to accept the challenge. I get it now.”

“Wha—” Lady starts, but she’s cut off by a warning shot being fired above her head. Her ears ring and her vision swims as she faintly registers that it came from the .gal 96. Agent 4 has reached the start of the ramp and has them in his sights.

“I’m sorry, Lady. I failed you.” Mar’s voice is choked. “Forgive me.”

It happens all at once. As Agent 4 stares down the barrel of his gun, Mar does the unthinkable—she tosses her roller to the side and body checks Lady _hard_. Lady lets out a surprised “oof!” as the air is pushed from her lungs and her balance gives way, careening her over the edge of the tower. Agent 4 looks as confused as Lady feels as she watches Mar throw out her arms, leaving her wide open to attack.

“Fuuuu—” Lady screams as she misses the lower platform and free-falls towards the traffic below. She watches as Agent 4 fires a shot, but she does not see whether it strikes true as the infrastructure of the towers rush past her. She closes her eyes, feeling the intense nausea of vertigo as she hits the out-of-bounds line and evaporates in a poof of smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the slight delay with the chapter, it was a bit longer than I anticipated. A lot happened! I'm glad you guys like angst, because dear lord does it crop up often in this fanfiction LOL. I do make sure there's cute stuff too to balance it, but still. Crikey. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Have a great weekend! :)


	7. The Aftermath

What the heck happened back there?

The question has badgered Marie’s mind since the moment the match ended and it hasn’t let up since. They were doing well, she thought, or at least as well as they could have been for being so uncoordinated. Up until the final thirty seconds, she really felt like they had that one. rvMatt1 had proven herself as devious as Lady had claimed and then some, employing some rather unexpected tactics in an attempt to get the drop on her. At one point the opposing charger had even forced her to retreat and give up some valuable turf on their side, but it didn’t concern her too much. She knew that Callie and Lady were wreaking havoc in enemy territory and Octolad had her back, raining down shots with his splatling from above.

At least, that’s what she _thought_ she knew. Marie found herself questioning everything as a purple bump of ink swam towards her from their spawn point, materializing into the familiar shape of LadyHood. Her expression looks furious.

“You _knew_ this would happen.” She phrases it as a statement, not a question. Marie blinks, keeping one trained eye on the charger making a push for their turf while the other throws Lady a questioning glance.

“What?” She tries to signal Octolad on rvMatt1’s current whereabouts, but he misreads them and continues firing haphazardly and without direction. Lady half-heartedly chucks a point sensor down to the lower platform, giving away rvMatt1’s position immediately. Realizing she’s been ensnared, the charger user dodges out of the way of the splatling’s shots and… deliberately jumps off the tower? Huh. It was strange enough to watch the Inkling do it on television, but even weirder to actually see it happen in person. She’d rather splat herself than give anyone else the satisfaction. Marie could respect that. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“Ask your cousin.” Lady’s tone is purely accusatory, and the answer fills Marie with dread. What did _that_ mean? She doesn’t get the chance to press further before Lady leaps off the platform and makes a blitz run for the middle. Lady dodges out of the way as Marny pops out of the green ink and keeps running. Marie takes aim with the charger and pulls the trigger, dropping the Octoling instantly. She swims down to provide backup but it’s too late. They’re in the final five seconds when Lady descends down to the center and attempts to spray purple ink in every direction, and there are two seconds left when Lady takes a shot to the face and is splatted by Agent 4.

A whistle sounds and they are forced to squid jump back to spawn to wait for the results. Based on what she sees on the LED display, it doesn’t look good for their team.

“I want a rematch.” Octolad says before a winner is even announced. “We’re better than them, I know we are.”

No one answers him. Marie takes a cursory glance at their assembled team and widens her eyes. How is Octolad so oblivious to this? Whatever social persona Lady had been projecting before is gone, replaced by a mask of indifference. Her expression is carefully kept blank as she stares out at the city skyline and away from them. Callie is looking anywhere and everywhere except at Lady, and when she briefly makes eye contact with Marie she hurriedly looks elsewhere. It only takes that moment for Marie to realize that her cousin has been crying. All the signs are there; her eyes are red and puffy and Marie can see the dried tear tracks descending down towards the bandana.

Judd and his junior survey the field and nod sagely at each other. The larger cat starts to raise his flag at the same time as his offspring before abruptly playing dead and falling over. The victory is claimed by green team, ending their respectable winning streak. Octolad curses. Marie observes him briefly, stalking around the ring of their spawn point. Does he not take losing well? He’s grumbling about the dapple dualies user of all people, claiming the Octoling switched weapons purely to spite him. Do the two know each other? They must for Octolad to be so passionate about the loss.

The spawn point teleports them back down to the base of the tower, close to the shuttle station. Lady steps off the pad immediately and clips the dualie squelchers to the belt on her waist.

“I have to go.” She says without preamble. “Our first league match is in three days. We should get a practice session in before then, if that’s what you still want.” She narrows her eyes at Callie, who still refuses to look at her. Her glower shifts over to Marie. So she’s in the doghouse too. “I’ll message you over SplatNet later. Octolad, you gonna answer your texts this time?”

“Obviously, what kind of question is that?” The green-haired boy scoffs, crossing his arms.

“You know why I ask, so don’t get indignant with me.” Lady seems to realize how sharp her tone is and dials it back. She sighs, holding a hand over her forehead. She looks _tired_. “I… It was nice to meet you both. Have a good one.”

“You too.” Marie offers in response as the beret-wearing Inkling spins on her heels and walks away. She wastes no time in hopping on a shuttle headed for the Reef; she never once looks back.

“Who went and pissed in her corn flakes this morning?” Octolad groans the second Lady’s out of earshot. “What a bear. Sorry that she’s so bossy. I’d say she’s usually not like this, but uh…” He shrugs helplessly.

“It’s all right. She likes to be organized; I can respect that.” A particular Splatfest comes to mind. There was no doubt in Marie’s mind which team Lady had chosen in the messy versus tidy debacle. It still baffles her that her cousin’s messy team had secured the victory. Marie glances over at the Inkling in question and slumps her shoulders as she sees the walls Callie is putting up around herself. She’s turning inward again… squit. Time to wrap this up. “Mar and I are getting a bit tired, so we’re going to head home. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Nah, the pleasure’s all mine. You two kick ass!” Octolad exclaims with a fist in the air. Marie swears for a moment she can see the ghost of a smile in Callie’s eyes, but that might just be wishful thinking. “Seriously though. You’ll have to show me your ways sometime; that was awesome.”

“That’ll be up for consideration.” Marie winks. She can’t help herself; she always adopts a playful disposition when she’s being flattered.

“We’ll see.” Callie says softly, her voice a little hoarse. Octolad doesn’t seem to notice the strain, instead beaming at their comments. “It was great to play with you, Octolad. Lady too.” Marie notices Callie’s face fall at the mention of their teammate’s name but chooses not to question it. There would be time for that later.

“Eh, she’s all right.” Octolad waves a dismissive hand in the air while he adopts a cheeky grin. “Catch you guys on the flipside!” He actually fires finger guns at them and makes complementary “pew-pew” noises before hoisting up his heavy splatling and walking away. Marie raises a brow. Did he really just do that? Octolad was certainly an _interesting_ Inkling, for lack of a better term.

“Callie.” Marie whispers the moment they are alone. “You okay?”

“I want to go home.” Any pretense of friendliness is dropped the instant Octolad is gone.

“All right.” Marie says kindly, and gently scoops her cousin’s hand up with her own. It jars her when Callie roughly pulls away from her as if burned. She’s never done that before… Marie stomps down the discouraged feelings in her chest. This—whatever it is—shall pass. She repeats this in her mind verbatim as they wordlessly board the bus back to Flounder Heights.

Unfortunately, she’s not able to delude herself into believing it to be true.

They ride back in silence all the way to the apartment complex. Marie finds the obvious tension between them uncomfortable, but she’s not sure what she can say or do to diffuse the situation. She’s not even sure that’s possible. Callie sits facing away from her, resting her elbow against the sill as she stares out the window. Her head is resting on her hand, absentmindedly curling her fingers in the exposed tips of her hair. Marie sits rigid beside her in the aisle seat, staring down at her lap. Lady’s accusations still buzzed around in her head; the visage of the Inkling girl’s angry purple irises appearing any time Marie closed her eyes.

_You knew this would happen_.

Marie clenches her fists in the fabric of her shorts. It was the absolute certainty in which Lady said it, with not a strand of doubt in her voice, that really got to her. It was made worse by the fact that Marie knew it to be true, despite not even knowing what truly happened. She should have followed her instinct; she should have refused the challenge the second she saw _his_ name on the opponent’s team roster. Callie wasn’t ready for that kind of reminder; she KNEW that, but…

It was the first time she had _truly_ seen her cousin in months. The lightness in her eyes, the laughter that sprang from her mouth… it was infectious, and she hadn’t been ready to give that up just yet. Hanging out with LadyHood and Octolad had brought Callie out of the shell she’d been holing up in. Marie had accused Lady of allowing their cousins to steamroll her into doing something she didn’t want to do, but the truth of the matter was that _she_ had allowed that. Lady had not directly pointed out her hypocrisy, but the look she gave her spoke volumes. Pot meet kettle indeed.

When the bus pulls up to the stop beside their apartment complex, Callie leaps up with unexpected speed and beelines for the door, impatient enough that she has to squish between the two withdrawing doors before they’ve even fully opened. Marie follows behind at a much more leisurely pace, her shoulders slouched as she watches Callie race up the stairs two steps at a time and quickly gaining distance between them. She’s made it to the landing of the fifth floor when she hears a door slamming heavily above her. Marie sighs.

She really screwed up this time, huh.

She stops walking and leans on the railing, closing her eyes as she fights to bury the bitter resentment rising in her throat. What an idiot. She promised to look after her; to protect her from the evils of the world, and then what? She turns around and subjects Callie to facing those very evils out of pure selfishness. Her intentions in coming up with this plan had been entirely pure. This was to be a release of the built up negative energy Callie couldn’t dispel otherwise, to help her with the recovery process after her traumatic experience. But as they both actually committed to the plan, it had become less about Callie’s process and more about closing the chasm that had formed between their friendship. Was that so wrong? It had been therapeutic for Marie too, though she hadn’t originally intended it to be that way. She didn’t realize how much she had isolated herself in her pursuit to rescue Callie until she had forced them both to socialize with other Inklings.

Now one of those Inklings probably hated her, and she still doesn’t know why. She supposes it’s time to find out.

She trudges up the rest of the stairwell, her legs becoming lead as she approaches their apartment door. She slowly places her hand on the knob and turns, pushing inward. It’s unlocked. Entering the living room, she sees Callie’s shoes hastily kicked off to the side on the mat. She takes off her shoes and straightens both pairs before taking a step towards the hallway leading to their bedrooms. She pauses as she eyes the room attached to the living space, its furniture covered in a fine layer of dust. It had been designated as a dining room, but as they always ate in front of the television and they had aspirations to make something of themselves, it had become their studio. Neither of them had stepped in there since Callie’s disappearance.

In some ways, it was a memorial to much better days; it immortalized their time spent together as the Squid Sisters. Countless hours they had spent in there, toiling away writing hit new singles and dropping a fresh beat. The mere sight of it these days was depressingly bleak. Would they ever use that room again? Marie had high hopes once, but now it seems unlikely.

She presses on, reaching the outside to Callie’s bedroom door. It’s closed—of course it is—and she awkwardly hovers her hand in the air, hesitating. She can hear sniffles on the other side. Marie’s hand forms a fist and knocks. The apartment immediately goes silent.

“Callie?” Marie’s voice wavers on her name. “Can I come in?”

There’s no answer. That’s enough of an invitation for her to try her luck. Better than being outright rejected, at least. Marie pushes open the door and ignores the envious feeling that surfaces when she sees how pleasantly dim Callie’s room still is, even with the afternoon sun. Marie takes off Agent 1’s shades and returns it to its proper place in the top drawer of the dresser. Her bandana and white face mask lay discarded at the foot of the bed. She eyes the face mask and frowns. She had intended for it to be used during the turf war matches so that there’d be no risk of Callie’s identity accidentally being revealed if the bandana fell off. That never happened, thankfully, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t concerned about it.

She walks over to the side of the bed and sits down in the now all too familiar spot, eyeing the large lump of comforter bunched up near the pillows. She reaches her hand out to touch the lump but draws back when she remembers how Callie reacted to her touch earlier. She rests her hands on her lap instead, mindlessly worrying the edges of her shorts with her fingers. She takes a deep breath.

“Callie, look. I’m…” Marie’s breath shudders. “I’m sorry I’m such a screw up. I shouldn’t have pushed you before you were ready. I’m just, I—” She pauses. By the ancestors, she was terrible at this. “I missed you, you know? I wanted to do something for you to make you happy, but instead I just made everything worse. I’m sorry.” Her hands clench into fists as she bites her lip, shaking her head. No. She had to be strong for the both of them; she can’t cry here, not now. “I’m an idiot.”

Her body tenses as it’s suddenly bombarded by a flurry of sheets, pulled into the warmth of its embrace. Two strong arms have wrapped around her and hold her tight; there’s a weight on her shoulder from something heavy leaning against it. Marie fights to hold back a sob but it’s no use. It comes out as a pitiful squeak.

“W-what are you talking about?” Callie’s hiccups, her voice unexpectedly loud. She’s resting her head on Marie’s shoulder. “You’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t blame yourself for my… my hang ups.”

“Lady was right.” Marie replies wheezily, her heart seizing. “She said I knew what would happen and I—I did. I don’t know what _actually_ happened, but I should have known playing turf war would have its triggers, and when I saw his name on the roster… I should have pulled us out then and there.” She feels Callie’s body stiffen behind her, but she doesn’t let go of her. “I blamed Lady for accepting the challenge but it wasn’t her fault, not really. I saw how much fun you were having playing with them and didn’t want to disappoint you by cancelling the last match of the day. Guess I did that anyway, huh.”

“You did no such thing.” Callie tries to scold her, but it comes out garbled from the constricted emotion lodged in her throat. “You’ve tried your best, and I never want to see you hate yourself for it.”

“Heh. You know I came in here to try to cheer _you_ up, right?” Marie chuckles, her body sagging in Callie’s grip. “Why is the reverse happening right now?” Tears are pooling in Marie’s eyes, but still they refuse to fall.

“Marie…” Callie speaks softly. They sit there in silence for a moment, Marie lightly quaking in Callie’s arms. “You don’t always need to be the strong one.”

“Yes I do.” Marie whispers, so quiet it’s barely audible. “I need to be there for you, just as you have always been there for me.”

“You can’t do that without being there for yourself first.” Callie loosens her grip and gently guides Marie to turn around so they can meet eye contact. Her eyes are surprisingly bright and sharp, Marie notices. She’s passionate about what she’s saying. The intensity of her cousin’s gaze causes her to shy away, looking down instead at the purple fitted sheet of the mattress. “I know that I can be… difficult. I recognize it, and I’m having a hard time adjusting, if I’m to be perfectly honest. But I don’t want to see you self-destruct over my welfare. Nobody’s worth it at the expense of your own well-being.”

_You are_ , Marie thinks to herself. She’d do whatever it took to see Callie right again.

“When did you get to be so wise?” Marie teases, wiping away the tears that fall freely now.

“I had a great teacher.” Callie beams at her. She appreciates the gesture, but she is anything _but_ wise. She wasn’t about to argue that with Callie though.

“Oh yeah?” Marie leans forward and bumps Callie with her shoulder. “Since we’re being candid with each other right now... Wanna tell me what happened back there?”

“Uh, I’m not sure what you mean.” Callie coughs, immediately averting her gaze.

“You sure you don’t know? Because I’m pretty sure something happened with Lady that you’re not telling me about.”

Callie turns bright red and buries her face in her hands.

“She’s going to hate me forever, isn’t she?”

“That depends.” Marie gives Callie a searching look. “What did you do?”

“Do you want the long or the short version?”

“The ‘ _tell me what happened’_ version, if you’d please.” Marie knew how to get straight to the point where her cousin was concerned. When she was uncomfortable about a topic, it wasn’t out of Callie’s nature to stall for however long she could manage.

“I may have, uh… pushed her off the tower?”

Marie stares blankly at her.

“And why would you do that?” She tries to control her tone as much as possible so it doesn’t sound too incredulous. It’s very hard.

Callie flushes in embarrassment.

“She had been trying to protect me when I was having some… _moments_ , and I thought I’d repay the favour when we got in a bad spot.” Callie’s eyes flash with guilt. “I shoved her over the edge with the intention of having her land on the lower platform, but…”

“She missed and kept falling?” Marie finished. No wonder Lady looked so upset with her when she re-spawned on their tower. She wouldn’t have been impressed either if the roles were reversed.

“They’ve never gonna want to play with us again!” Callie wails. “Who would want to after that display?”

“Octolad seemed pretty okay with the whole thing.” Marie shrugs. “And Lady did mention having practice sometime in the next couple of days. I think she’ll get over it.”

“B-but…”

“Just apologize to her the next time you see her, if it’s still bothering you by then.” Haunted by the angry look in the Inkling’s eyes, Marie might just apologize to her too. “She seems like she’d understand.”

“I hope so.” Callie doesn’t sound too confident about that. Marie observes her quietly for a moment. Callie’s fiddling with her sheets, looking downcast. The relief a person usually exhibited from getting something off their chest wasn’t in Callie’s posture at all. She’s still holding something back.

“Hey.” Marie grabs her attention.

“Hmm?” Her cousin’s gaze returns to meet hers.

“You don’t have to commit to this League business if you don’t want to. I thought it would be good for… well, _both_ of us really, but I don’t want to pressure you into it.”

“Oh, I really enjoyed it! I don’t want to quit.” Callie says right away. “Our teammates are awesome.”

“Then will you tell me what this ‘bad spot’ was that you and Lady got into?” Marie presses on. She has her suspicions—how could she not?—but she wants to hear from the source. Callie visibly deflates at the question.

“I, erm…” Her voice trails off as she swallows a lump in her throat. Then she laughs, and Marie’s heart sinks. It’s a fake laugh, the type that Marie can recognize as a precursor to a lie. Callie always adopts a cheerful disposition when she doesn’t want to worry her. “I saw that Clauds was on their team, and I wanted payback for all the times she messed with me, you know? I was a little obsessed and may have gotten into a bit of trouble.” Callie giggles nervously.

“You know she didn’t recognize you as Mar, right?” Marie asks. It’s a rhetorical question, because of course she knows.

“You should have seen the look on her face! She was terrified.” Callie almost sounds a little proud.

“I’m sure she was.” Marie rolls her eyes. Clauds, or Lizzie as her real name is, had been friends with them since they first moved to Inkopolis. She was one of their first real fans after watching them perform in Arowana Mall, and often hung out with them in their downtime. Callie and Lizzie often pranked each other, much to the detriment of their relationship, but they were still civil at least. When they became an overnight global sensation as the Squid Sisters, their friendships with everyone—Lizzie included—had fallen by the wayside. Marie still felt bad about that.

Marie gets up from the bed and straightens her jacket out of habit, brushing off all the imaginary lint. “I’m going to fix us up something for dinner. Any preferences?” She says, making her way to the door.

“Um.” Callie thinks for a moment before a light bulb goes off in her head. “Oh! We should get delivery. Pizza?”

“Sounds good.” Marie pulls out her phone. She’s got the local pizza place on speed dial. They may have accumulated some bad habits while living out in Inkopolis… “Toppings?”

“I’m up for anything.” Callie hops off the mattress and starts making the bed. It was pretty ravaged from being tossed around so much. “Just make it pineapple-free.”

Marie can’t help but smile as she heads out into the living room to place their order. At least some things were returning to normal, and concessions were being made between the two of them.

One thing still nagged at Marie’s brain though…

Why couldn’t Callie tell her the truth?


	8. Just Like When We Were Kids

That night, Marie proposed a sleepover.

It sounded ridiculous the instant the words came out of her mouth—they were already roommates, after all—but Callie’s surprised and eager reaction made it worth the residual embarrassment. They were already camped out in the living room watching a rerun episode of Mad Squid and eating pineapple-free pizza, so why not?

“Don’t you have work in the morning?” Callie asks as she finishes off another slice. She’s a demon when it comes to the pepperoni; they’re already running low on the topping and they still had half the pizza left. Marie wouldn’t complain though. She’s just relieved there’s no pineapple on it.

“Hmm? Oh, no. I took it off.” And every day in the conceivable future, Marie thinks to herself. She was committed to this for as long as it took. Besides, she herself desperately needed a vacation after everything that transpired over the last several months.

Callie looks at her in alarm.

“Marie…” Her voice is laced with concern. Figures Callie would stress about the security of her career instead of being jubilant over her company. To be fair, her cousin likely wasn’t that confident that she herself had a job to go back to, despite their manager’s assurances. The entertainment industry is a fickle business, and with her months long absence and current recovery period to top it off, Callie’s fears weren’t entirely unfounded.

“It’s fine. I filmed a ton in advance just in case I needed some time off. They’ve got enough material to last a few months.” Marie waves off the thought. “They might call me in for some voice or song recording purposes, but Swordfish promised that he’d postpone that as long as possible.”

Callie doesn’t look convinced. She’s biting her lip with a brow raised, busying her hands by reaching for another slice of pizza. Plopping one on her plate, she hesitates for a moment before speaking up.

“You’re… you’re not doing this because of me, right?” She’s not looking at her; her gaze is cast downward, at the last slice of pizza with a decent amount of pepperoni on it. Marie can read her cousin’s face easily—she’s blaming herself for this development. Marie reaches over and places her hand on Callie’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“No.” Marie says immediately. While Callie was certainly part of the reason why she came to this decision, she wasn’t the only deciding factor. “A wise squid told me that I need to take care of myself better. Thought I’d take her words of wisdom to heart.”

“A wise squid, huh.” Callie gives her a knowing smile. There’s a flicker of doubt in her eyes as she speaks but the moment Marie blinks it’s gone. “I have to meet her sometime.”

“She’s a great squid, to be sure.” Marie withdraws her hand to refocus her attention back on her forgotten slice of pizza. “Don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Her thoughts instantly jump back to the events of the last year, where their friendship had fallen by the wayside in their pursuit of fame. Her mind betrays her with accusations on what a terrible friend she had been, making herself so unavailable; and for being so useless when Callie had been kidnapped. Marie knew _exactly_ what she’d do without Callie; she’d lived it for several months, and she never wanted to go through that again. She absolutely imploded from the stress and the resentment she felt towards herself almost ate her whole. If she hadn’t reached out and recruited Agent 4 when she did…

She didn’t even want to think about it.

“Hmm.” Callie hums in response. She’s looking over at her, trying to read her face. Marie keeps her expression carefully neutral. One problem at a time. Callie opens her mouth, and her voice comes out oddly echoed when she speaks next. “ _I see what you’re hiding there, kid_.”

“What?” Marie blinks in surprise. How did she do that?

“ _I’ll keep your secret_.” Callie continues, and it is then that Marie realizes what’s happening. She glances over at the television, confirming her suspicions. Callie’s character on Mad Squid has appeared on screen and Callie is reciting her lines verbatim. Is Callie just doing that for fun? That choice of words though…

“Wow. You can quote your character’s lines when you filmed this over a year ago? Color me impressed.” Marie’s lips curve into a smirk. “Do you remember the Squidmas jingle we had to record for Rockenburg? How’d it go again?”

“You’re awful.” Callie pouts. “The one time I flub a line and you never let me live it down.”

“It was pretty funny, you have to admit.” Even if you died of embarrassment at the time. Marie can’t stop the grin forming on her face as she recalls the memory. They had been filming a commercial for Rockenburg apparel out in Arowana Mall for charity. The company was doing a Squidmas drive where Inklings were asked to donate cans of food or toys to help out those in need. It’s a great cause, of course, and Rockenburg teamed up with the Squid Sisters to really promote the message. Their costumes had been pretty awesome—they were both dressed up as a finely tailored Santa Claus, sporting the classic red jackets lined with white fur trims, stocking caps, and fresh black boots—as they dashed around the mall delivering presents and helping collect donations for the drive. Fortunately, Callie’s epic blunder had _not_ taken place while they were surrounded by large crowds; it was during the voice over session they recorded the next day.

“Not my fault the writer had such terrible handwriting…” Callie mutters. “Come give us your unwanted boys indeed.”

“Who needs toys when you can have boys?” Marie nudges Callie with her elbow, laughing as Callie buries her face in her hands. “Only you would suggest parents should donate their children for a charity drive.”

“So awful.” Callie groans, leaning back and running her fingers through her hair. She stares up at the ceiling fan, grimacing. “At least they scrapped that recording. It never happened.”

“I guess.” Marie didn’t have the heart to tell her that she had personally gone to Rockenburg’s music producer to secure a copy of the sample before it ended up on the cutting room floor. In some of her bleakest moments, Marie had actually listened to it for a moment of much needed brevity and to remind herself why she couldn’t give up on everything just yet. She hastily changes the subject. “So, how do you want to do this sleepover? We’ve got sleeping bags and mats in the closet, or we still have this trusty pull out bed we’re sitting on.” Marie pats the couch cushions beneath them. “Might be a little rickety now though.”

“Pull out mattress.” Callie says, hopping off the couch immediately. Marie doesn’t even have to say anything before her cousin is already pushing the coffee table out of the way. She seems really eager about this. Marie is grateful that she’s in a better mood, but she can’t help but wonder if she’s only focusing all her energy on this to distract herself from something else. Callie shoos her off the couch and strips off the cushions, tossing them to the side. Seeing that Callie has dedicated herself to the construction of their sleepover arrangements, Marie heads back to her bedroom to get changed into something more comfortable.

When she comes out sporting a simple green t-shirt and black shorts, the room has already been converted into the perfect sleeping space. The curtains are drawn, the bed made; the pillows fluffed and presentable. A hastily-made tent in the corner of the room catches her eye. Using the armchair to support one end, Callie had managed to construct a blanket fort using the previously discarded couch cushions. Marie stares at it in bemusement.

“Callie.” She says, crossing her arms as she checks out the interior of the blanket fort. It’s still bare, but Callie is busy rectifying that by pulling pillows out from her bedroom. “I don’t understand how… just, _how_.” Marie gestures to the well-made bed (the sheets are even tucked in!) and the fort. “I was gone for a minute. A literal minute.”

“Practice.” Callie replies sagely. “Lots and lots of practice.”

“Uh-huh.” Marie doesn’t know what else to say to that. She doesn’t believe it possible, of course, but she’s seeing the results of Callie’s ‘practice’ in front of her, so who is she to argue? “I see you built a blanket fort.”

“It needs some extra support so it doesn’t collapse in the middle of the night, but the foundation’s good.” Callie starts stuffing the inside with pillows. Honestly, with the way she’s decorating it, it looks more comfortable and cozy in there than the pull out bed does. “We don’t have to hang out in it, but… I just wanted to make one.” There’s a twinge of sadness in her voice that tells Marie otherwise.

“Nonsense, of course we’ll hang out in it.” Marie marches over and crawls inside, rearranging some of the pillows as she does. It’s big enough for the two of them, giving them both ample breathing room. She can hear Callie’s protestations over her barging in; something about it ‘not being ready for them yet’, but Marie ignores her with a sly grin.

“You’re incorrigible.” Callie groans, chucking a pillow at her face. It makes its mark and bounces off to the side. Marie’s too busy laughing to care.

“Someone’s been reading.” Marie teases with a smile. “That’s a big word.”

Callie’s response is to throw another pillow at her. She’s readjusting some of the outer cushions that hold it all together. The blanket that serves as the roof dips in the middle for a moment before it straightens out. Whatever Callie’s doing, the tight stretching of the sheet suggests that it’s now very secure for the night. When Callie is finally happy with the build of their blanket fort—she’s a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to such matters, so it takes her awhile—she joins Marie on the inside, looking content at her handiwork.

“Nice work.” Marie comments, giving her a thumbs up. “Great team effort as always.”

“Of course.” Callie giggles, rolling her eyes. “Always great to live with a connoisseur of comfort. How does this one rate on the scale?”

“Almost perfect. It just needs…” Marie disappears from the blanket fort for about a minute. Callie hears the television shut off around the same time the room goes dark. She fiddles nervously with a nearby cushion but maintains her composure. She’s never been a fan of the dark. Suddenly, a soft atmospheric piece cuts through the silence. It’s an acoustic cover of one of their songs, performed by a fan on the piano. It’s beautiful. Callie’s eyes widen with wonder as she sees bursts of color through the canopy of their fort. The living room is dyed with various shades of red, then blue, then green, purple, yellow… alternating colors every few seconds. Callie is making an ‘ohhhh’ sound as Marie shuffles back into the fort, dragging a comforter in behind her. It’s the same one from the pull out bed.

“Pretty.” Callie hums, marveling at the colorful display. Her fingers, formerly stressing on a cushion, are now gently tapping the beat to the song playing in the background. Maritime Memory is one of their best works.

“Glad you like it.” Marie pulls the comforter over them both. She lies down to enjoy the display herself, arms crossed behind her head to support it. “We haven’t done this since we were kids.”

“You called it childish.” Callie mutters, settling down into a comfortable position.

“I did?” Marie says in surprise. No wonder Callie sounded so forlorn before. “I don’t remember when I said that, but I retract that statement. Past Marie is an idiot; blanket forts are cool.”

Callie doesn’t verbally respond to that, but Marie can see the ghost of a smile on Callie’s face as the room briefly glows pink.

“It’s peaceful in here...” Callie says quietly. She starts to cocoon herself with the comforter. Marie grabs hold of a corner so Callie doesn’t take it all. Marie had forgotten her cousin could be a blanket hog. Marie hums in agreement, closing her eyes. The sound of the piano is greatly relaxing to both of them, luring them closer to slumber.

“We’ll do this again.” Marie promises. Her words fall on deaf ears; the intended recipient has already passed out. She chuckles to herself. Of course Callie zonked out already.

Marie sighs and rolls onto her side. She is content just to lie there and listen to the music. She mouths the words to ‘Ink Me Up’ when a jazz cover of it starts to play. That song was responsible for their rise in popularity. The controversial title brought both a lot of scrutiny and new listeners in to join the debate. As arguments over it subsided, Inklings realized that it had remained top of the charts for several weeks. It broke all previous records, which was unheard of for a debut song. Once they followed it up with a pop version of the traditional folk-song ‘Calamari Inkantation’, their newfound celebrity status became finalized. Marie chuckles to herself as the acoustics reach the last chorus. Out of all the theories that came out about why they named the song the way they did, none of them ever guessed that Callie had once suggested it as a joke. No one ever suspects the innocent one. Marie thought it was hilarious so they ran with it, and the rest as they say is history.

Just as she’s about to doze off, Marie feels a vibration in her shorts pocket. It’s accentuated by the fact that she’s resting on top of it. Curious, Marie shuffles over and reaches for her phone, squinting at the sudden harsh light that fills the fort as she turns it on. Two new messages from the same number. Marie doesn’t recognize the number, but Lady did say she was a night owl, so for her to text now made sense.

She swipes the code to the unlock screen to open up the messaging application. She comes to the immediate conclusion that this _can’t_ be Lady. After all, who would ever name their daughter Sebastian?

“Who the heck are you?” Marie grumbles. She doesn’t like strangers having her number. With more gusto she selects the ‘new messages’ notification and raises a brow when his last name becomes visible. Waterford? Does she know a Sebastian Waterford? She reads the first text.

“ _Marie, it’s Agent 4.”_

“Oh.” She breathes. She reads the second one.

“ _You and Callie are Tina and Mar, right? You guys okay?”_

Holy carp. How did he figure that out so fast? Her sleepiness forgotten, Marie texts him back.

“We’re fine.” She starts, hesitating to continue. Should she admit their identities so readily? They were supposed to be disguised, but if Agent 4—er, Sebastian—saw right through them, they might not be as incognito as she originally thought. Still, if she _did_ admit to it, she might be able to get more information out of him. Deciding the pros outweighed the cons, she continues writing. “What happened that match?”

“ _Well…_ ” A single text. It seems he’s also hesitant to continue this conversation. Some time passes without a response. Marie’s just about to give up and head to sleep when a giant block of text fills her screen. Her eyes glaze over the words, her heart dropping further into the abyss with each sentence. It details the entire event that transpired on the enemy tower, starting with when Lady squid-jumped over to Mar. There are mentions of suction-cup bomb specials, jumping off ledges, splatting the Octoling Marny, and of Sebastian expecting a two versus one as he scaled the tower. He writes about how Mar shoves Lady off the tower, which—honestly, he’s still baffled about that—and then she tossed her roller off to the side, arms spread wide.

“ _I didn’t realize it was her at the time.”_ There’s a pause between texts. “ _If I did, I wouldn’t have shot her.”_

Marie inhales sharply.

“ _I’m sorry.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought you all deserved some fluff after all the angst. Couldn't resist closing it out with some though, so sorry about that. :p 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Happy Friday! :)


	9. Unlikely Faces

Lady stares down at the ticket stub in her hand and sighs, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

It’s been a long day. From getting off of backshift and discovering she had been enrolled in the upcoming League season, to playing with her prospective teammates and getting shoved by one of them off the tower… and later failing miserably to sleep for her backshift that night. She still woke up and arrived on time for work as usual, but with sales down and labour up too high, the morning manager had politely suggested she leave early to cut costs. She obliged, of course—as a manager of the restaurant, she understood the inner workings of the business—but that meant her pay was lacking for the night. At four in the morning, she had to make up for three hours to recuperate her losses. It may not be substantial in the grand scheme of things, but to Lady it was really important to make that money.

If she didn’t, well...

It wouldn’t come to that. She had learned from her mistakes the first time; she’d never be caught unprepared again. Fortunately, it seems that the stars shined in her favour tonight. She caught a glimpse of the early morning Inkopolis News Broadcast airing on the food court television as she was heading out the door.

 _“Grizzco Industries is hiring! Apply now!”_ Pearl says, sounding entirely too peppy for this time of the day. Perhaps it was a recording of a previous segment they had done; Lady couldn’t imagine the girls from Off the Hook being awake and working at the station right now.

 _“Let’s go work a Salmon Run shift together later, Pearl!”_ Marina chimes back in response, also much too lively to be awake at this time. The Octoling smiles as her short Inkling companion hops off the chair and enters the closing statements for the broadcast.

 _“Until next time…_ ” Pearl starts, grinning as Marina joins her in saying, _“Don’t get cooked; stay off the hook!”_ They strike their trademark pose and the broadcast cuts to a commercial break. A white-haired Inkling in a white dress and a coy smile appears as the advertisement promotes their summer wares. Lady doesn’t know who she is, but she certainly looks fresh. Her decision made, Lady left Arowana Mall and hopped on the early morning shuttle to Grizzco Industries.

She’s not too sure why she subjects herself to hazardous working conditions like this. There is a very real possibility that you won’t come back from the job—a co-worker she had known for about two weeks at McPrawnalds had taken a shift at the Lost Outpost and never returned—but the pay is substantial enough that it draws Inklings back time and again like moths to the flame. The few times that she worked together with rvMatt1 had shot her nerves to hell with how reckless and intentionally obtuse the other girl could be, jumping into danger (or for heaven’s sake, the water) just so she would have to rescue her. Lady may have signed a waiver so Grizzco Industries wouldn’t be liable for any accidents out in the field, but she definitely never signed up for _that_.

Lady feels regret immediately as she shows her ticket stub to the dock worker and he waves her through, tilting his work hat respectively as he passes. She boards the small fishing vessel and, out of habit, makes her way to the back. She leans against the stern railing and stares at the city skyline as the ship disembarks to take them out to the great beyond. She watches the rivets in the water as the engine powerfully propels them forward towards their mysterious destination. The ticket stub had not specified where they were going for once; a fact that should have filled her with anxiety but she finds herself strangely not caring. Perhaps she’s just _done_ with this day. At least the salty sea breeze felt nice. It distracted her from pondering her own mortality if she were to fall into the water this very moment and drown.

“Excuse me…” A feminine voice interjects her morbid thoughts. Lady startles a little, but settles as she sees a female Inkling with turquoise hair approach. “Would you mind some company for a while?”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Lady shuffles over a bit to make room for the newcomer. The Inkling’s face brightens at the movement, recognizing it to be a welcoming gesture. “Taking the graveyard shift, huh? I don’t envy you.”

“I find it to be much more peaceful to register while everyone else is still asleep.” The girl shrugs. She’s already wearing the orange overalls and teal rubber gloves and boots supplied for the job. Lady knows the drill; she’ll have to get changed into her own issued uniform in the cabin before long. “That, and I find working the early morning hours to be quite romantic.”

Lady just blinks at that statement. “Romantic? I’m not sure how working out in no-squid’s land could ever be seen as romantic.”

“You’re surrounded; your backs are pushed up against each other as you’re facing down impossible odds… just then, there’s a break in the cloud cover. You look to the east and you see a miracle. It’s breathtaking. The Salmonids turn at the same time you do, an unspoken truce established between you as everyone watches the dawn appear across the horizon together. There’s nothing else like it.”

“Uh.” Lady gives the Inkling girl a dubious glance. “That’s… poetic.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” The turquoise-haired girl laughs. “That’s fine. I know how ridiculous it sounds, but it’s true. There’ll be a time out there where everyone just chooses to live in the moment and I—I live for that experience. You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”

“All right then.” Lady’s not convinced, but she’s not about to argue with her new temporary partner. There’s a moment of silence between them until Lady remembers her manners. “I’m LadyHood, by the way. Apologies that I didn’t introduce myself before; it’s been one of those days.”

“I feel you.” The girl nods. She offers her hand out to shake and Lady takes it. “My name is Hawkmoth. I’ve also had one of those days. Life sometimes takes a toll, you know? But I know something that might lift your spirits. It’s the main reason I came over here actually, besides suggesting you get suited up soon.”

“What’s that?” What could this girl—Hawkmoth, Lady corrects herself—possibly know to get her out of this funk? When she closes her eyes, she can still see the blur of buildings flying past her; she can still feel the bewilderment and nausea from the vertigo. With the sea breeze brushing against her face, she feels like she’s reliving it all over again. It makes her queasy.

“Do you trust me?” Hawkmoth asks.

“No.” Lady replies immediately. Instead of looking offended, there’s a twinkle of amusement in Hawkmoth’s hazel eyes.

“That’s smart. You did just meet me, after all.” The uniformed Inkling shrugs before readjusting the cap on her head. “But it’s not like we have anything to lose on this boat, right? It’d do me no favours to mistreat you before we’ve even started working together. Out on the field, you need to trust that your teammates will have your back, just as you have theirs in return. Why don’t we call this an exercise in trust?” Hawkmoth grins. “I promise you it’ll be worth your while.”

“I’m even less inclined to trust you after a speech like that…” Lady sighs, shaking her head. “And you look as giddy as my cousin does when he’s up to no good.”

“I’m hurt you’d even insinuate such a thing; why, the very idea of it...” Hawkmoth feints looking taken aback. Lady can tell it’s put on by how exaggerated her movements are. “Make no mistake; I am a true paragon of virtue.”

“Sure.” Lady rolls her eyes and waves her hand in the air dismissively. “I will play along with your ruse, if only so you stop making that face at me.” Lady tries to copy it, forming a pout of her own to accompany the puppy-dog look in her eyes. Hawkmoth chuckles light-heartedly at the effort and wraps an arm around her shoulders. Lady freezes up at the contact but doesn’t push her off.

“I like your spunk, kid. You’ll do nicely.” She starts to steer her around starboard side.

“Kid? You’re probably the same age as me.” Lady grumbles under her breath. Hawkmoth definitely hears it—the smug smirk stretched across her face makes that clear as day—but wisely refrains from commenting. It only takes seconds for them to reach Hawkmoth’s apparent ‘surprise’.

The door to the cabin looms before them.

“Nice door.” Lady gives Hawkmoth a look. “Not balancing a bucket of water on top, are you?”

“Nah, that’s a bit cruel, and I’m pretty sure that would be grounds for Grizzco to terminate my position permanently. I like working for him.” Hawkmoth eyes the door for a moment, as if imagining the logistics of such a prank. “Besides, with turbulent waters like this, that bucket would make a sopping mess on the floor long before I could steer anyone towards it.”

“Fair enough.” Lady still looks skeptical.

 _“Arriving at the Marooner’s Bay in ten minutes! Suit up!”_ Grizzco’s voice comes booming out through a lone speaker attached to the cabin. His voice reminds her about how much she really doesn’t know about the guy she’s working for. No one knows his true identity; what he looks like, who he is, or if he’s even an Inkling. It’s an unsettling thought that no one seems to care about those important details either. Why such secrecy? Why does he want them to collect the golden eggs? If the job didn’t pay so well, Lady suspects his true nature would be called into question and broadcasted across the news within seconds. The fact that the INB actually promotes Grizzco Industries means he must hold a major share in the company. It’s the first time she’s really thought about it.

“You heard the boss man! Suit up!” The gentle arm that steered her towards the door becomes abruptly rough as Hawkmoth shoves her forward with both hands.

“I’m going, I’m going!” Lady groans, making a pointed effort to swing the door open dramatically and then slam it in Hawkmoth’s grinning face.

She immediately wishes she hadn’t as she becomes aware that she’s not alone in the room.

“My, that's quite an entrance.” The voice is soft like silk and almost sounds like it’s purring as it greets Lady’s ear. That sounds like… no, it isn’t possible.

“A stage performer in the making, yea? Good on ya.” Another voice speaks; this one slightly gruffer but still all too painfully familiar. Lady’s body freezes at the sound of it. She slowly turns her head, not trusting her ears with the information it relays back to her brain, and relies on her eyes instead to make sense of the situation.

The moment she does—

“Oh my god! Sorry!” Lady gasps, head whipping back like a flash to stare fixedly at the cabin door. Her face flushes a deep crimson. What in the world; this _can’t_ be happening…

“Aw, she’s a shy one.” The first voice purrs again. “It’s all right. Nothing you haven’t seen before, I’m sure.”

“Such a tease as always, Marina. And they call _me_ the troll.” The other one says disapprovingly, but there’s an air of delight in her voice. At least someone finds this amusing.

“Who calls my Pearlie a troll? I have some choice words I’d like to say to them…”

“Later, dear. We have company.” Lady can hear footsteps approach her from behind. Instinctively she just wants to bolt out the door and make a break for it, but on a dingy little boat like this, there was nowhere for her to run. She feels a tap on her shoulder and bites her lip, terrified. “Hey. You can relax, you know. We’re not gonna hurt ya. Who are you?”

“I—I’m…” Lady takes a deep breath. “Are you… are you decent?”

There is a deeply infectious and decidedly unladylike chortle in response.

“Aren’t you the bashful one?” The smooth voice, which Lady has since confirmed to be Marina, grows louder as she too approaches. “Would it bother you if we weren’t?”

What kind of question is THAT? Lady stares at the doorknob, glaring at what she imagines to be Hawkmoth’s snickering form on the other side. Why, when she gets a moment with that Inkling alone, she’ll—

“Ohhh, the silent treatment. I think you struck a nerve.” Pearl teases. She’s still close—too close, given what Lady’s seen—for comfort. “Sorry kid. Marina’s playful in the mornings.”

“I always forget how sensitive you Inklings are to such matters. Don’t worry, dear. We were just getting dressed for work.”

“O-okay.” Lady stutters. She swears in her head at the slip up. How uncool could she be? She still doesn’t turn around, and it takes the coercing of a teal gloved hand to assure her the coast is clear. That gloved hand gently tugs at her shoulder and gestures for her to turn around, so she does. Her breath catches in her throat as she meets eye contact with Marina, nerves running rampant under the surface. She’s never met a celebrity before; she’s never been up to one this close. Marina’s eyes light up with delight as she takes in Lady’s appearance. Lady becomes acutely aware that she smells like McPrawnald’s coffee under the Octoling’s close scrutiny.

“It’s her! Pearlie, look!” In a flash Marina is behind her and pushing her further inside the cabin, giving the shorter celebrity a chance to give her the once over.

“So it is. LadyHood, right? Huh. Small world.” Pearl grins as Lady’s face transforms into one of unfiltered shock.

“Y-you know me?” Lady squeaks, and then she remembers herself. “It’s… it’s a real pleasure to meet you both. I’m _really_ sorry we met under such circumstances; if I had known, I’d have given you your privacy of course…”

“Think nothing of it.” The rapper from Off the Hook waves away her concerns. Pearl gives the cabin door a knowing look. “After all, I’m sure your timing was no accident. Hawkmoth likes to have fun with the newbies.”

“The pleasure is ours.” Marina grabs Lady’s hand and shakes it fervently. Lady is trying very hard not to pass out from sensory overload. _Deep breaths,_ she tells herself. _Regain your composure._ _You’re on a small boat with two big celebrities, no big deal. They’re normal people just like you_. Now if only she could convince herself of that. Her heart still races a mile a minute at the mere proximity to them. “Oh, Marny is going to be beside himself when he hears that we met you today. He’s a fan of you and Salmonford both, you know.”

“Marny?” Lady repeats the name. She remembers the Octoling she faced on Moray Towers; how could she not? His bomb rush had outright incapacitated her teammate with fear. She had tried her best not to assume that the only two Octolings publically known to reside in Inkopolis knew each other, but now that Marina had confirmed as such out loud… _Of course they did_. Her brain short-circuits when she catches up to the rest of the conversation. “Wait. _Salmonford_?”

“Erm.” Marina looks uncomfortable at her reaction. She looks like she’s wondering if she said something wrong. “Yes? That is the name of your cousin, is it not?”

“It is, but…” Lady’s eyes are wide with surprise. “How do you know that? He made me swear an oath to never tell anyone under any circumstances.” She can still remember the intensity of his expression when he had first broached the topic to her several years ago; eyes alight with both determination and… something else. She never figured out what it was, exactly, but the look unsettled her enough that she agreed to make a pact with him: in exchange for never revealing his name to the world, he would have to extend the same courtesy to her. They both took it _very_ seriously; they were to take their secrets to the grave. They even pinky promised on it.

“He introduced himself that way to my brother.” Marina shrugs. “He’s quite a cool squid according to Marny."

Lady’s mind is shrouded in confusion. When did _that_ conversation take place? Why had Octolad never mentioned it? This information did shed some light on the way he was acting when they were playing on Moray Towers; Lady can recall her cousin taking particular interest in hunting the Octoling down, but she hadn’t been sure why. There’s a lot about her cousin that she doesn’t seem to know these days, and while that’s completely to be expected after two years of estrangement from each other, for some reason it still hurts to think about.

The comment about Marina having a brother goes completely over her head.

“Yeah, he is…” Lady mumbles in response. Marina and Pearl share a look, noticing the drastic shift in her demeanour. Whereas before she was nervous and a bit jumpy, now her mood has noticeably subdued.

“Enough about them.” Pearl says, crossing her arms. Marina looks at her with gratitude, thankful for the quick change in topic. “I doubt any of us are here to talk about boys anyway. Girls are where it’s at, am I right?” As she’s speaking, she gives Marina a playful nudge with her hip.

“Definitely.” Marina makes her way behind Pearl and bends down to wrap her arms around the rapper’s torso. Lady does not think anything of this display of affection until Pearl takes advantage of the Octoling’s new lower position and gives her a swift peck on the cheek. Lady blinks. Once. Twice. Wait a second. The two of them are together?

“Oh.” She doesn’t know what else to say. She’s pretty sure she’s made a horrible first impression already anyway, so it hardly matters if she looks like a dumbfounded idiot. Her transparent shock gives way to a small smile. “I ship it.”

The stars stare at her in silence before erupting into joyous laughter.

“Damn straight.” Pearl grins.

 _“Now arriving at Marooner’s Bay.”_ Grizzco’s voice interrupts the moment. _“Weapons have been provided as a loan; you will find them towards the bow of the ship. Now get me those eggs!”_

“You better get suited up.” Marina says, eyeing Lady’s everyday attire. The Octoling doesn’t seem to disapprove of the black t-shirt and blue jeans she opted to wear after work, much to Lady’s relief. The last thing she needs is to appear like a fashion disaster to the duo currently tearing up the music charts with hit after hit. Lady has to admit it’s very strange to see the members of Off the Hook wearing Grizzco Industries’ rubber uniforms, but they pull the look off well. Lady hopes she can look even half as good in the outfit after getting changed.  

The all-star pair shuffles off to the side, giving her free rein of the cabin. She heads over to the cushioned bench in the back and pops open the storage compartment hidden inside. Sure enough, a uniform waits for her there. She grabs the set and pulls it out, consciously aware of eyes watching her as she closes the compartment door. She holds the folded clothes close to her chest and stares back at them.

“Um.” She says, giving them a pointed look. They make no move to leave. “Do you mind?”

“Just keeping the playing field fair.” Pearl states plainly. “You DID barge in on us earlier, you know.”

The mere mention of it flushes Lady’s cheeks again. Dear Squid Jesus, what parallel universe has she fallen into that _this_ situation has become not only plausible but her reality? She always thought that Pearl and Marina were simply paid to promote the Salmon Run experience; never did she anticipate that they’d actually participate in it themselves. She also never realized that their on-screen personas were actually toned down for the camera. Based on the things they’ve said on air, there were implications that they could be in a relationship, but nothing to suggest that they’d be this provocative in their everyday lives.

“Now who’s being the tease? Look at the poor girl, she’s terrified.” Marina scolds her partner gently. She takes a hold of Pearl’s shoulders and steers her towards the door. She pauses to address Lady one last time. “We’ll take our leave now. Best of luck out there. We’ll look after each other and watch the morning sun together.”

Her words remind Lady of what Hawkmoth had been telling her before about the sunrise. Perhaps there was some truth to what she had been saying after all.

“All right.” Lady nods. “Those Salmonids won’t know what hit them.”

“That’s the spirit!” Pearl hollers. She fist pumps the air, invigorated for the coming battle. “You consider yourself a dualies main, right? Let me show you how a TRUE profreshional handles them.”

Lady fails to notice the alarmed expression that overtakes Marina’s face at Pearl’s words. “I’ll hold you to that.”

They finally leave, giving Lady a chance to exhale and shake off the nerves that had been tightening her chest from meeting them. What a day! She could hardly believe her luck. Working for three hours with _the_ Off the Hook (and a mischievous turquoise-haired Inkling) on a stranded boat in the middle of nowhere? She should get cut off early from backshift to save on labour more often!

Sliding into her temporary rubber kicks, Lady pops on the two-toned cap and strides towards the exit with a spring in her step. Pearl thinks she’s going to show _her_ how a true dualies main gets the job done? She’d like to see her try.

With newfound resolve, Lady crosses the threshold to join her team on deck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, happy 2000 hits! Thank you all for your kind words and support; it's been great getting to know you all over the course of the past two months. It's my privilege and honor. <3 
> 
> Apologies for the lack of a chapter last week; life and health issues got in the way and I needed some time off. Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. Certainly didn't go in the direction I initially expected it to!
> 
> Have a great weekend, and Happy Halloween in advance, as I likely won't update again until a day or two afterwards.


	10. See Her Dodge Rollin'

Much to Lady’s delight, Grizzco is kind enough to loan her the dualie squelchers for the first part of their shift. She doesn’t say anything out loud about it, but she can’t help but gloat a little as she gives Pearl a smug look. _Let_ me _show you how it’s done_ , Lady thinks to herself, spinning one of the squelchers around with a finger. She smiles brightly when Pearl meets her eyes, but her enthusiasm dampers a little when the shorter Inkling immediately turns away with a pout. Lady bites her lip. Ouch. Pearl had definitely incensed her competitive nature into action, but her newfound confidence wasn’t invulnerable to the nerves building in her gut. Even the rapper’s simple action of looking away without acknowledgement was enough to crack the bravado Lady had adopted the moment she picked up her weapons.

She eyes Hawkmoth and Marina for a moment, watching as they converse with an ease about them that could only have come from much time spent together. Lady wonders if their current occupation as golden egg retrievers for Grizzco Industries had something to do with it. If so, that does beg the question on _why_ Pearl and Marina would regularly risk their necks to do something so dangerous. It can’t be about the money—they are celebrities, for squid’s sake. There was no way that Off the Hook wasn’t raking in the dough, not that she was about to ask them about their financial gains as entertainment icons. Something else then? What would be worth this amount of effort?

The turquoise-haired Inkling strikes a pose with the squiffer loaned to her and Marina laughs, tucking a squelcher into the crook of an arm as she claps animatedly at the display before her. At least they were having fun. Seeing that they’re preoccupied, Lady shyly shuffles over to Pearl, who had wandered off to the side in silence. She’s staring almost forlornly out towards the beached steel ship they were soon to squid-jump over to.

“U-um, Pearl?” Lady inwardly curses at herself for the stutter. She really can’t help herself; she’s both excited and absolutely terrified to be in the celebrity’s presence. “Are you all right?”

Pearl startles at the sound of her voice and spins on the heels of her boots to face her. The rubber soles squeak as they grind against the deck’s paneling. Her golden eyes appear to look through her for a moment—in Marina’s direction, Lady notes—before they refocus on the Inkling girl before her.

“You don’t—” Pearl starts before abruptly cutting herself off. Her mouth hangs just slightly askew, revealing her very pointed upper incisor. She closes it and stares at her, as if deliberating something. Then she tries again. “You think something is wrong with me?”

“No! No, of course not.” Lady hastily replies. “I was just concerned is all.”

“And why would you be concerned?” Pearl raises a brow. She folds her arms over her loaned rapid blaster and frowns deeply. Her posture is the very epitome of a challenge, and the sight of it alone is enough to intimidate Lady. Oh squit. Has she seriously erred in her attempt to be friendly already? Was she really reading the situation so poorly? She never claimed to be an expert at social interaction, but she didn’t consider herself entirely incompetent either. This current train wreck was throwing everything she knew into question.

“Well,” Lady starts off hesitantly. She decides she might as well be honest; what did she have to lose? Besides from ever talking with Pearl or Marina again and being banned from seeing them perform on stage, perhaps? Panic surges in her chest at the thought. She already regrets never getting the chance to see the Squid Sisters perform live, and after Callie and Marie went on to pursue solo careers, it was doubtful that opportunity would ever present itself to her again. The last thing she needed right now was to get shunned by Off the Hook indefinitely. “You’re over here by yourself, for one.”

“So?” Pearl’s look is intense.

“And you look a little put out.” Lady continues. She immediately raises her hands in a peace offering as Pearl adopts an indignant scowl. “Sorry! I don’t mean to be rude if I’m coming across that way. Just tell me to bugger off if I’m bothering you, but I just wanted to say—”

“Bugger off.” Pearl interrupts with a growl. Lady flinches at the instant dismissal and swallows a large lump in her throat. She breaks eye contact with Pearl’s heated glare to stare at their boots instead. _Stupid teal boots, you’re a crime against fashion_. She attempts to distract herself by dissecting their grotesque-looking outfits but fails miserably, feeling her eyes start to water. Damn it. _Don’t cry in front of her, idiot._

“O-okay.” She replies shakily. “Good luck out there.”

Lady wastes no time in booking to the other side of the boat, pretending to inspect her weapons with an unreasonable amount of focus. She does catch Marina and Hawkmoth look up as she departs but ignores them, already feeling embarrassed enough without adding them to the equation. She hears footsteps approach from behind and squares her shoulders, taking in a deep shuddering breath. _Show no weakness. Save that for when you get home_. She pretends not to notice and continues checking out her loaned dualie squelchers. They’re in excellent condition, despite showing some wear and tear. These guns see a lot of action on the field. For them to still be functional and available to loan out was a good sign. They would treat her well.

About a minute passes by in silence before a shrill whistle sounds off by the cabin. That could only mean one thing; it’s go time. Lady instinctively turns to join her team on the launch pad and walks smack dab into something with mass behind her. It lets out a small “Oof!” noise at the impact.

Lady blinks as she discovers Pearl standing there, hand outstretched in the air as if she was about to touch something. She retracts her gloved hand immediately upon Lady’s noticing it and huffs. The shorter Inkling still looks pissed, glowering at her and the ground and back to her with unbridled passion. Oookay then. Not wanting to deal with any further confrontation—Lady’s honestly not emotionally prepared to handle being put down by one of Inkopolis’ biggest stars _again_ —Lady mutters an apology for bumping into her and moves to skirt around the rapper.

A gloved hand grabs her wrist to prevent her from leaving. It’s surprisingly strong for being so small.

“Wait.” Pearl mumbles. Her voice gains some clarity as she speaks again. “Wait a moment… _please_.”

Lady doesn’t say anything but she does stop in her stride, staring at the hand holding her there. Pearl gives her one long searching look. When she feels confident that Lady’s not about to run off again (is it confidence or wishful thinking on her part?), Pearl releases her wrist.

The flight response tugs impulsively at Lady’s legs but she resists the temptation to bolt with a will made of iron. Maybe she was a glutton for punishment, she doesn’t know. But regardless of what fate had in store for her, Lady found herself staying put and waiting for Pearl to say something else.

“Listen.” Pearl looks around here and there, anywhere but at her. Is she… is she _nervous_? Lady didn’t believe it possible; she’s never seen Pearl as anything but confident and composed in all her time spent in front of the cameras. “I’m not very good when it comes to talking about my feelings, and you… you caught me at a bad time.” She’s fiddling with the straps of her overalls now. “That doesn’t excuse me from being an ass though. You were just trying to be nice.”

“It’s all right.” Lady says, her expression softening a bit. She didn’t expect this roller coaster of a conversation to take place before starting her Salmon Run shift, but now she’s glad it happened, even if it hurt at first. Pearl was a lot more earnest an individual than she ever could have expected.

“No, it’s not. Nobody deserves to be treated like garbage for being kind-hearted.” Pearl’s gaze hones in on her now, clearly passionate about her conviction. “Don’t let anyone treat you like a doormat. I don’t care who they are or how important they claim to be, don’t let that shit fly, all right?”

“Okay…” Lady trails off, sounding uncertain. She appreciates the pep talk (and the compliment about Pearl finding her kind), but she’s not sure why their conversation has veered in this direction. Sensing her confusion, Pearl covers her face with a hand and shakes her head.

“Gods, I really am terrible at this. What I’m trying to say is…” She pauses. “I’m sorry for how I acted before. That was very uncool of me.”

“Apology accepted.” Lady’s voice is light. She wants to sag in relief that things have smoothed over between them, but her body is still tense about the impending battle that lay before them.

“What were you going to say? When you approached me earlier, I mean.” Pearl asks almost tentatively. The current demure demeanor of the rapper clashes hard with the established bombastic persona she portrays on television. Lady thinks about it. What _was_ she going to say earlier? She had been so caught off-guard and feeling hurt from being sent away that it had been lost to the depths of the void.

“Oh, uh…” Lady adopts a sheepish look as she remembers. “I was just going to tell you that I’m here if you ever needed someone to talk to, I guess.” She wasn’t about to tell her that it was because she looked a little lonely and pensive standing off to the side like that, but Pearl seems to read that off her face anyway.

“Heh. You’re a good kid.” For the first time since they started talking on deck, Pearl smiles. “I’ll remember that.”

A second, much louder whistle sounds off from the speaker attached to the cabin. Lady jumps in place and swivels her head, catching the concerned looks of Marina and Hawkmoth staring at them from their spots on the launch pad.

_“Am I paying you two to dawdle? Get moving!”_ Grizzco’s deep voice barks at them.

“Whelp. There go our pay bonuses. We better go.” Lady says. She’s only half-joking about the bonus; she’s worried that he actually will cut their pay for the delayed start.

“He wouldn’t do that.” Pearl replies with certainty, sensing her apprehension. “Not if he wants to maintain his good rapport with the citizens of Inkopolis, at least.”

“I guess.” Lady doesn’t exactly sound reassured. It’s true that Grizzco likely wouldn’t do anything to the two individuals that actually promoted his business on the regular, but as for Hawkmoth and herself? She’s not so sure. She starts walking over in the direction of their teammates; Pearl falls into step beside her.

“Can I admit something to you?” Pearl asks quietly, smiling as she meets eye contact with Marina in the distance.

“Sure.” Lady’s not sure what to expect. This whole day has been one strange turn of events after another.

“I… I friggin _hate_ working here.” Pearl grasps the handle of her rapid blaster tightly. “I’m complete garbage at it and to put it frankly, the Salmonids terrify me.”

Lady looks down at her with wide eyes.

“Then why do you…?”

Pearl adopts a wistful look as she simply nods in the direction of their teammates.

“The answer is a little obvious, don’t you think?” She chuckles softly, keeping her voice low. “I’m in love.”

 

***

 

The next few hours passed by as one might expect of a Salmon Run shift; it was both hectic and stressful and soon wore out its welcome. Their first hour was spent on the beach because of the low tide, fending off a near ridiculous amount of Steel Eel trains, Steelheads, and a persistent Maws that dived in and out of its ink, skirting around their attempts to down it with a bomb. That was to say nothing of the Stingrays and Flyfish hovering over by the shoreline, taking cheap shots at them from a safe distance as the Steel Eels blocked the only means available to get to them. Fortunately for team Inkling (plus one Octoling), Hawkmoth was loaned the stingray special and knew how to use it. She expertly obliterated the Flyfish’s cockpit which caused a chain reaction and forced the missile launchers to explode; she then directed her attention to the absurd tower of pots contraption, knocking them out two at a time and preventing the Salmonid from firing back its own stingray.

With Marina preoccupied trying to shoot the enlarging bombs protruding out of the Steelheads’ craniums, that left Pearl and Lady the responsibility of collecting the golden eggs and bringing them back to the basket. That was all well to do and all but that required them to deliberately rush into the most chaotic part of the battlefield, and considering what Pearl had admitted to Lady earlier… it was not a good time.

To Pearl’s credit, she’s not the type to seize up with fear when facing down unrealistic odds. She tries her best to get the job done. Unfortunately, her best was just not very good, and the frustration on her face made it evident she was aware of that fact too. She’d swim over to grab an egg and—ouch, a cohock body-checks her into the water. Thankfully Grizzco’s uniform included a flotation device that prevented them from instantly dying, but Pearl was certainly wearing out the warranty on hers. Lady and Marina would revive her and then—squit, she gets ensnared by a Steel Eel and down she goes again. They managed to secure the amount of eggs Grizzco demanded for the first hour of their shift, but with Pearl getting chomped by the rogue Maws in the final minutes, the team’s morale wasn’t exactly high.

They squid-jump back up to the bow of the marooned ship. They’ve got a few seconds to breathe before the second wave hits them. The instant they resume their regular forms, Lady’s over by Pearl’s side in a flash.

“Here.” She says, holding out the dualie squelchers. She wants Pearl to feel as comfortable and confident as possible given the circumstances. “It’s your turn.”

“Heh.” Pearl accepts them without complaint, handing over her rapid blaster in return. Lady tries to hide the dread she feels the moment she takes hold of the weapon. Her performance with blasters was mediocre at best, and that was in environments designed with her safety in mind. She had no such luxury out here. “I’m to show you how it’s done, right?”

“Of course.” Lady’s just glad Pearl seems less tense now. She doesn’t miss the grateful look Marina throws her way either; her heart skips a beat at the sight of it.

“Not that you need showing,” Pearl continues her train of thought; “you handled yourself great out there. I saw you dodge out of the way of a Steel Eel to get the Maws chasing me down.”

Lady’s cheeks blush at the compliment.

“Glad I could help. I got your back, Pearl.”

Pearl’s expression is a hard one to read in that moment. It’s strange, considering how openly she usually broadcasts what she’s thinking. Eventually her lips curve into a small smile.

“Thanks kid.”

They don’t have the time to exchange any more words as suddenly the tide rises and a thick fog’s rolled in, making it impossible to see more than five feet in front of them. Pearl squeaks as Hawkmoth grabs her collar to drag her back and Marina steps in front of her protectively. When Lady realizes why, she utters a curse without even noticing.

Glowflies. Pearl’s surrounded by glowflies.

This is proving to be a rough morning.

 

***

 

The second wave ends with a near team wipe. They tried their best to funnel the horde of angry chum over a single grated bridge to make them easier to deal with, but a few got smart and opted to take the other bridge, flanking them from the side. As the target of their focus, Pearl was splatted almost instantly the second she was swarmed, with Lady following soon after while trying to throw out a bomb rush. Hawkmoth had borrowed the squelcher from Marina for this round and was doing okay, but she couldn’t hold the trigger down forever. The gun splutters and wheezes as it attempts to pull up ink from the empty canister on her back. She doesn’t have the time to replenish her ink before the chum overwhelms her through sheer numbers alone.

Thank the heavens for Marina. While she’s at an extreme disadvantage with her charger-type weapon against the endless swarm of Salmonid, she proves herself to be tactically minded with a well-timed splashdown in the center of her “Help!” spamming companions. Revived instantly, they’re back on the offensive with renewed vigor; especially Pearl, who seems angry that the glowflies would dare paint her girlfriend as a target. She rolls and shoots with unusual precision, at one point cleverly pulling out the Inkjet and raining death from above when the chum get too close. Lady’s too busy collecting eggs to really think about it, but Marina’s shocked and delighted face at this development says enough. They are way over the required amount of golden eggs by the time the basket submerges itself into the ground and the chum retreat back to the water from whence they came.

“Pearlie, that was amazing!” Marina exclaims the second they have a chance to breathe.

“It was?” Pearl asks, surprised. She quickly collects herself. “I mean, of course it was! Did you see how they ran? Nobody messes with my girl and gets away with it.”

“My hero.” Marina coos, leaning over to give Pearl a peck on the cheek. Feeling emboldened, Pearl takes that opportunity to grab Marina’s collar and pull her in for a proper smooch. Lady’s dumbfounded when Pearl catches her staring and throws her a suggestive wink.

“Not what you were expecting, huh.” Hawkmoth says, coming to stand beside her. Lady gratefully accepts the squelcher offered her, glad to do away with the rapid blaster. She’s glad Salmon Runs aren’t televised events; she’d never be able to live down the shame from her piss poor performance with the blaster.

“Which part?” Lady asks. She takes this time to wipe some of the pestilent puke green ink from her uniform. It comes off easily enough thanks to the rubbery material. “This entire day hasn’t been what I was expecting it to be when it started.”

Hawkmoth adopts a curious look.

“Oh yeah? What else happened?”

“A bit of a long story.” Lady sighs. “But the short summary version is that I was enlisted in the next League season without signing up for it, got shoved off a tower, got cut from work earlier than usual and now I’m here.”

“Wow.” Hawkmoth whistles. “I almost feel bad for trolling you now.” The turquoise-haired Inkling spares the Off the Hook duo another look and grins. “Almost. I’d say it worked out for you.”

“I still have to get you back for that…” Lady grumbles, shoving the girl playfully in the shoulder. “That was mortifying.”

“But exciting, right? You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it.” Hawkmoth laughs as Lady freezes up at the implication. “Easy there. I didn’t mean it the way you’re thinking—at least, I don’t think I did.” She pauses to study Lady’s expression and lowers her voice. “I just meant getting to meet them away from the cameras, you know? Out here, they just get to be themselves, no having to put on an act.”

“True enough.” Lady says, not actually agreeing with Hawkmoth. After what Pearl had confided in her earlier, Lady knew that the rapper was still wearing a mask; just a much less noticeable one. “Meeting them has been an experience.”

“It’s the real reason why I get up at ass o’clock in the morning to work a Salmon Run shift.” Hawkmoth wanders over to the side of the ship, watching as the tide lowers and evens itself out again. “As you have probably guessed by now, I’m sure. I wasn’t lying about my reasons before though; I do find this time of day to be peaceful and romantic.”

“Honestly not seeing either of those traits at the moment…” Lady mumbles.

“You will.” Hawkmoth grins. “Just give it time.”

They start their third and final hour of the job after that, another slog of Scrappers, Steelheads, and an unprecedented amount of Flyfish materializing at once. At least four break the surface of the water at one point, hovering ominously dotted across the shoreline as they target each of them without mercy. It constantly rains tenta-missiles down upon them, and Hawkmoth’s stingray and Marina’s apparent part-time profession as a basketball player provides little relief as for every Flyfish they take down seems to spawn two more in its place. Lady is grateful to be in possession of the squelcher, having the range to take out the Steelheads’ giant bombs on their heads from a safe distance. Pearl isn’t half-bad with the squiffer either, though she doesn’t get much of a chance to utilize it with the unwieldy amount of missile pressure bearing down on her.

About thirty minutes pass by and they’re two eggs away from meeting their quota when the skyline starts to shift into a beautiful display of vibrant reds and oranges. Much to Lady’s disbelief, the Salmonids’ onslaught almost immediately dies the second the sky starts to brighten. A stray smallfry bumps into her with a strange cackling noise but is pulled away by the larger cohock creature, who gives her a calculated look as it stands there tense with frying pan in hand. It eyes her squelcher warily, and she realizes she still has it pointed at them out of instinct. She glances over to look for her teammates and finds that Hawkmoth’s already put down her weapon and is sitting on the edge of the bow. Pearl and Marina are slowly making their way over there, holding hands as Marina leads the way.

“Um. Sorry.” Lady says out of habit. She’s not even sure the Salmonid can even understand her; she’s never tried talking to one before. “Enjoy the sunrise.” She makes a point of lowering her weapon and nods to the cohock as she backs away from it. To her surprise, the creature nods back at her before herding away a group of smallfry that are excitedly clamoring about. She makes her way over to the bow, heart melting as she sees the silhouettes of Pearl and Marina resting their heads against each other. Their arms are linked as they dangle their feet over the edge.

Hawkmoth sits off to the side a bit, giving the duo their time alone. Lady opts to join her, feeling strangely content despite having nearly been murdered a handful of times in the last couple of hours. She gives a cautionary glance at the Salmonid behind them, but it’s clear they’re no longer a threat anymore. They all look to the sky with wonderment, the smaller creatures crawling on the larger ones to get a better vantage point. The armada of Flyfish are putting on a show for them, swishing past this way and that in such an organized display that it leaves Lady breathless. They’re capable of operating their machinery _that_ well? She finds that information slightly horrifying, but she stamps down the feelings and settles for feeling relieved instead. There would be no more fighting this morning—not for this group at least.

“See what I mean?” Hawkmoth murmurs, just loud enough for Lady to hear. “You said it sounded poetic, but it’s true.”

Lady only hums in response. Honestly she’s not sure she could find the words to express herself right now; the entire experience is surreal beyond her wildest expectations. She thinks back to what Hawkmoth told her before and almost groans when she realizes how on the nose the Inkling was being about the whole thing.

Peaceful. Yeah, it was certainly peaceful when the Salmonid joined you in watching the sunrise together.

Romantic? Lady had no context to that statement when Hawkmoth first mentioned it, but now? Her gaze shifts over to Pearl and Marina, off in their own world as they seem to exist only for each other. She looks away, feeling like she’s intruding on a private moment. Yeah, she can see how it could be romantic too.

She slumps her shoulders and lets out a deep breath she didn’t know she was holding. She sits in silence next to Hawkmoth, watching as the fiery star appears on the horizon. For some reason, the sight of it makes her feel inspired. Lady pulls out her phone.

“What, you gonna take a picture of it or something?” Hawkmoth teases, seeing what she’s doing.

“No.” Lady replies simply, and in one fluid motion fires off a quick text.

_Hey, it’s Lady. Practice tomorrow?_

She hits send and slides the phone back into her pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I haven't had the chance to read over the later half of this chapter yet to make sure it flows properly (I always do a read through before posting generally), so hopefully it's still legible. I'll be back to check later tonight to tweak it if necessary, but I wanted to get it out so y'all had something to read. <3
> 
> Just like last time, this chapter did not go the way I initially expected. I do like the way it went though.
> 
> Have a great weekend friends. :D


	11. Permanent Ink

Marie is roused from her slumber by a vibrating sensation right next to her head. She grumbles under her breath as she blearily makes a swipe towards the offending device—oh, it’s her phone. She picks it up and proceeds to burrow under the comforter with it. She doesn’t want the light of the screen to disturb Callie while she’s sleeping; it was rare for her cousin to get uninterrupted rest these days. Deep, slow breaths inhale and exhale in a rhythm behind her and Marie finds herself listening to it in a peaceful silence. Did Callie go the whole night without an episode? If so, that’d be a first. Perhaps letting out some of her stress and anxiety in a controlled environment did her some good after all. Or maybe it was shoving Lady off a tower that Callie found to be strangely therapeutic. Marie lightly chuckles and then grimaces as she revisits the thought. It wasn’t really that funny. She can still remember the fury in Lady’s eyes and anger seeping through her voice when the purple-haired girl confronted her about her cousin’s mishap.

Sighing, she decides to dismiss the gradual dampening of her mood by directing her attention towards something else. She hisses as her phone lights up, almost blinding her with its luminescence in the comfortable darkness of their blanket fort. The digital display mocked her as it proudly revealed the time to be 6:34AM. _Ugh_. Back in the yesteryear, Marie wouldn’t be caught dead waking up of her own accord at such a blasphemous hour. This used to be her bedtime. She’d sneak off to her room just before Callie started her day, not wanting to hear another lecture from her cousin about staying awake all night. She knew that Callie was just concerned for her well-being—she understands that exceptionally well these days, given all that has happened since then—but being a night owl was Marie’s natural biorhythm. In fact, her health only seemed to suffer when she deliberately attempted to change her sleeping schedule to be a daytime dweller. She was eventually successful, of course, but it wasn’t without its consequences; she was apparently so grouchy at first that she scared away every potential Agent 4 candidate she came across. That was to say nothing of how haggard her features became, looking particularly ghastly in the light of the cruel unforgiving sun.

Marie’s eyes adjust to the brightness of her phone and sees that she has one new notification. It was sent two minutes ago. Who in Inkopolis would send her a message this early in the morning? She knew it wouldn’t be Sebastian; after the bomb he dropped in their conversation last night, they had gone radio silent. She didn’t know what to say after he recounted the events that transpired on Moray Towers. How could she? What do you say to the person that informs you that your cousin _wanted_ to get shot?

Nothing, it turns out. She had yet to respond to him. It was clear he felt guilty about what happened, but it wasn’t his fault. It was hers. The moment she saw his name on the roster of the opposing team, she should have declined the challenge and taken Callie home. Her cousin wasn’t ready for that cruel reminder, Marie knew that, but she also hadn’t wanted to disappoint her. Callie genuinely seemed to be enjoying herself playing turf wars with Octolad and LadyHood. And if Marie were to be perfectly honest with herself, she had enjoyed it too, if only for the smile it put on Callie’s face. Her heart prickles with guilt. She had been selfish. She knew that either participating or pulling out of the match would have affected Callie negatively, but she didn’t want to be the direct cause of her best friend’s unhappiness. She should have shouldered that burden and protected Callie from that trauma. Sure, Callie would have seen her as a party pooper, but that would have been better than subjecting her cousin _and_ her teammates to what happened next.

Her thoughts start to bury her in an unyielding cascade of depression. _She should have been there for her. She should have done the right thing. Squit, she’s the worst cousin ever. How could she even call herself family if she wasn’t willing to prevent a foreseeable tragedy in exchange for a few fleeting moments of happiness?_

She blinks away tears as she selects the single notification with a shaky finger and the messaging application loads up.

One new text message. It’s from a number she doesn’t recognize. She opens it.

_“Hey, it’s Lady. Practice tomorrow?”_

Marie blinks again, this time in disbelief. Wow. She almost can’t believe what she’s reading. Lady actually _wants_ to play with them again? After everything that happened? Marie’s not sure she could say the same thing if their roles were reversed. Though Lady had said she would text them later to schedule a practice session, Marie didn’t expect she’d get back to them the next day… or ever. She flops her arms back in relief, still gripping the phone in one hand. Her reassurances to Callie hadn’t been just another empty platitude after all.

Marie goes to emerge from the comforter but something pink out of the corner of her eye catches her attention. She hesitates indecisively as she considers whether she wants to investigate or not. It’s the same pink color as the ends of Callie’s tentacles, but her hair was much too long for Marie to be able to see them from her current position. She decides to chance it and takes a glance over in her cousin’s direction. What she sees almost makes her heart stop.

The tattoo. It’s still there.

It’s barely visible under the fabric of Callie’s pyjamas but that octopus design is unmistakable. It peeks out along with tiny bit of exposed skin from Callie’s midsection. Her shirt has partially ridden up her torso—probably from shifting about during the night—effectively uncovering her secret. Why would she still have THAT? It’s made of ink, for squid’s sake! She could get rid of it at any time, unless…

Marie frowns. Unless she didn’t want to get rid of it.

She resurfaces from the comforter and throws a critical look in Callie’s direction. The girl is shifting about some, muttering something unintelligible under her breath. Marie strains to listen, hoping to glean some new insights about what’s going on in her cousin’s head. For as long as she’s known her, Callie has always talked in her sleep. The subject matter is usually random, from expressing her undying loyalty to pink candy clouds (did she mean cotton candy?) to reciting her one line of dialogue from their third grade theater performance—“The forest rustles in the breeze!” (It was a weird play and Callie was cast as a tree; it made more sense if you saw her up on stage)—but sometimes it isn’t quite as random.

Sometimes she mumbles her deepest concerns and darkest secrets out into the world for everyone around her to hear. Marie leans in to catch a bit of what she’s saying.

“Ice cream… delicious.” Callie sighs happily. Marie almost smacks herself upside the head but resists the impulse. Of course she was spouting nonsense the one time Marie desperately hoped for the latter. “We should go…”

Who was dream Callie talking to? Marie decides to chance waking her up by responding back. It was incredibly rare, but there have been a few times before that Callie would answer while sleep-talking.

“Where are we going?” Marie whispers gently. She leans forward to try to hear the expected garbled response. A full minute passes by, and then another. Marie’s about to slump back in disappointment when a wispy voice replies,

“Apolo-cream.” And it’s said with such confidence as if the answer were completely obvious. Marie grumbles and slumps back onto her pillow. Of course it would be more nonsense; there is no such place called ‘Apolo-cream’ as far as she’s aware.

“Totally helpful there Callie.” She can’t help but say out loud. At the mention of her name, the black-haired Inkling stirs.

“Hmm?” Callie slowly shifts about in place, yawning loudly as she stretches out her arms and legs. Her voice is thick with sleep. “You say something Marie?”

“Just wanted to say good morning.” Marie greets her immediately. “And I wanted to ask if you wouldn’t mind clarifying some things for me.”

Callie looks alarmed at this statement, eyes widening as she turns to face her.

“W-what?” She pulls up the comforter to hide most of her face. Her eyes are still visible, looking a lot more awake than two seconds ago. Marie frowns at that reaction. Why would Callie be so jumpy about this? For all she knew, Marie could be asking her what she’d like for breakfast.

“Whoa, easy there.” Marie gives her as disarming a smile as possible. Then, getting an idea, she decides to emulate Callie’s current position of partially hiding beneath the comforter. Callie’s golden eyes stare directly into her own before slowly gazing upward and catching sight of something that she apparently finds amusing. She’s giggling, loud enough to be heard despite being muffled by the comforter. Marie decides to lift her hand up to investigate and discovers—whoa! Massive bedhead going on up there. She rolls her eyes. At least something as simple as misshapen tentacles are enough to lift Callie’s spirit. “You were sleep-talking again.”

“Oh.” Callie pulls the comforter away from her face, tucking it underneath her chin. “What’d I say this time?”

“Uh.” Marie’s struck with an idea, but she’s not sure she wants to go through with it. This would be the perfect opportunity to ask about that tattoo, but the subject matter would probably shut Callie down completely again. “A couple of things. I think you wanted ice cream; you said we should go but when I asked ‘where to’ you just replied Apolo-cream. Pretty sure that isn’t a place.”

“Apolo-cream?” There’s an inquisitive inflection on the last syllable. Callie furrows her brow. “I’ve never heard of that before. Maybe I was just mashing words together?”

“That’s possible. You do tend to do that a lot, awake or otherwise.” Marie sticks out her tongue as Callie pouts.

“I do not! Name one time—”

“Good stob instead of stuff or job; Hey-lo instead of hello or hey; cute shag instead of… actually, I don’t know where you were going with that last one. Sounds scandalous though.” Marie raises her eyebrows suggestively. She finds herself greeted with yet another pillow to the face.

“Hey-lo was on purpose! Was trying to make it a thing.” Callie protests. Marie’s bullsquit detector goes off immediately; her cousin’s trying to save face. “As for cute shag,” Callie’s voice wavers when saying it, because of course Marie starts laughing the instant her mouth forms the words, “I was trying to compliment someone’s shaggy dog and…” She trails off. Her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“And good stob?” Marie asks through her chuckles. She’d love to hear the excuse for that one.

“I… I got nothing for that one.” Callie slumps back, defeated.

“So what do you think Apolo-cream is?” Marie refrains from gloating about being right. She feels satisfied enough knowing that Callie’s aware of it as well.

“Um, well… You said I was talking about ice cream, right?” Callie thinks for a moment as Marie confirms it with a nod. “Maybe it’s supposed to stand for apology ice cream?”

“You tell me.” Marie teases gently. “You’re the one that said it.”

“I know.” Callie sighs. “I guess even dream me feels guilty about it.”

“If that’s the way you’d like to apologize,” Marie’s brain is quick to put two-and-two together, “I think she’ll be receptive if you show her you’re being sincere.”

“Doubt it.” Callie’s mood visibly deflates like a balloon. “She’s never going to want to team up with us again. You saw how angry she was.”

“I did,” Marie agrees, “but I’ve also seen this.”

She picks up her phone again and unlocks the screensaver, opening back up to the last thing she viewed before it turned off. She swivels the phone around so Callie can see what’s on the screen.

“What?” Callie audibly gasps. “Is that for eel?”

“I wouldn’t show you otherwise.” Marie smiles, watching as Callie’s mood instantly improves. Callie’s still eyeballing the text, staring at it with a critical eye.

“Her last name is Thames?” Callie asks. Marie turns around the phone to check. Sure enough, the phone number is registered to a LadyHood Thames. “Maybe her first name really is LadyHood. That’s a bit… odd.”

“Not like we’re really ones to talk; we’re a walking seafood pun.” Marie groans. She can’t _believe_ it took her basically her entire life to realize that.

“ _Wait_.” Callie looks stunned. Marie immediately feels a little better. Guess she wasn’t the only one to overlook that particular tidbit. “We ARE?”

“Calamari.” Marie confirms. “Our parents totally had to be in cahoots with each other to make that work.”

“I dunno, I was born first. Maybe your mom came up with it; that sounds like something Auntie would do.”

“Nah, Mom mentioned that Aunt Cheryl told her an alternative pick for your name once. It was Shelly, I think?” Marie watches as Callie wrinkles her nose with displeasure. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too. You make a better Callie.”

“What was your other potential name? If I had one, you probably did too.” Callie looks fully awake now, facial expression perked with interest at their discussion.

“Um, yeah. It was Pearl. Good thing that didn’t pan out, right? Would have made things pretty confusing.”

Callie just laughs at that and agrees. “Wow. Pearl the pop star and Pearl the rapper. People would _never_ get that mixed up.” She adopts a mischievous grin on her face; its appearance makes Marie’s heart soar as much as it also concerns her. That grin usually meant that she wouldn’t like where Callie’s thoughts were leading. “Maybe you two should be the next musical duo sensation. What would your band name be? Hook Sisters? Oh! I know. It should be Squid Off. Get it? Because it sounds like—”

“I get it, I get it.” Marie interjects, shaking her head. At least Callie seems to be in a good mood this morning; this is the first time in the past month that she didn’t need to be coerced out of hiding away and isolating herself. Maybe it was the change of scenery and sharing of the blanket fort that did it; Marie’s not sure. She plans on making it a daily tradition from here on out though. Whatever it takes, however long it takes… Marie’s going to be there for her cousin no matter what.

“Are you hungry?” Callie asks, looking at her with bright eyes.

“Is that a roundabout way of telling me you are?” Marie inquires back. She immediately sits up and goes to free her legs from the comforter. She lets out a small ‘oof!’ as an unexpected strong arm pulls her back down again.

“No.” Callie says simply. She sounds serious. “Let me.” She starts to wriggle her way out of the comforter. When she frees herself of the comfortably warm trap, she brushes her shirt to straighten it and smooth it over. Marie’s eyes instinctively gravitate towards the tiny bit of exposed skin before it’s completely covered and—huh. The tattoo’s not there anymore.

Callie fails to notice Marie’s perplexed look as she’s too busy crawling out of their blanket fort.

“What do you want for breakfast?”

“I was going to make us some omelettes, but—”

“Okay! That’s what I’ll do then.” Callie hums and disappears from view. Marie can hear her padding around in the kitchen and opening up some cupboards and drawers, pulling out what she needs to cook with. Marie crawls out of the blanket fort and moves to turn off the multi-colored light display and piano music that’s still playing softly in the background. It’s light enough to see in their apartment now; the morning sun is peeking through the curtains of their eastern-facing living room windows. She stretches, hearing some of her muscles crack as she does and she winces. Her left shoulder hurt a little bit; maybe she slept on it funny.

She makes her way over to a bar stool tucked underneath the island counter and pulls it out so she can watch. She trusts in Callie’s cooking skills; before the last year, Callie was always the one preparing their meals in the morning. Still, it’s been over a year since her cousin has actively made anything for them, and this is the first time in the past month that she’s doing more than just pulling out chocolate pudding cups from the refrigerator to eat. Marie’s not sure what brought about Callie’s deliberate evasion of the kitchen and refusal to prepare food for herself—even the thought of it depresses Marie, so she tries not to dwell on it—so she’s not about to discourage her from trying to make something now.

It turns out mostly okay, a little overcooked maybe, but still completely edible. And most importantly, Callie made it for them.

Marie will clean up the burners on the stovetop later, once they’ve properly cooled down.

“Sorry…” Callie mumbles when she sees what Marie’s looking at. “I made a mess.”

“No problem.” Marie says with a breezy smile. She scoops up a big helping of egg on her fork and eats it whole, letting out a happy sigh. “It was well worth the effort.”

Marie didn’t notice it before, but Callie must have been nervous cooking the omelettes because it’s easy to see her shoulders relaxing now. The prospect of cooking must have been daunting for her; Marie’s glad Callie was able to overcome that mental hurdle. She’s going to be as vocally supportive as possible to bolster Callie’s confidence. Maybe that will encourage her to take a more proactive role and eat properly in the future.

“Marie?” Callie has joined her on the only other bar stool by the island counter.

“Hmm?” Marie hums through a mouthful of omelette. The melted cheese on top was delicious.

“You said you wanted some _things_ clarified, plural. But you only asked me about one thing. What was the other thing you wanted clarification on?”

Squit. Marie had been banking on her overlooking that particular detail, but Callie is a rather attentive squid kid when she wants to be.

“E-erm.” Marie’s voice stutters a little bit, caught off guard from being called out.

“Uh oh… you’re nervous.” Callie bites her lip, eying her warily. “You’re only like that when we’re about to go on stage or you think you’re going to offend me. Obviously it’s not the former so…” She trails off. Her expression hardens, as if preparing herself. “What is it?”

“It’s not important.” Marie hastily replies. It’s apparent that Callie doesn’t accept that answer because her glare intensifies. Her head tilts down a little subconsciously, making her appear all the more ominous. “I was just wondering if you’d like to practice some yoga later. Good for the body, right? My shoulder’s a little sore so that might loosen it up some.”

“Marie.” Callie’s voice carries a warning with it. “Remember what I told you at the mall. You’ve always been a terrible liar.”

“I’m not lying! I really do want us to do some yoga or work on a choreography together, it’d do us both some good.” Maybe it’d help them both relax physically and mentally. That’s Marie’s hope, at least.

Callie hums noncommittally. She doesn’t sound convinced.

“ _Not hard to lie when you’re not really lying, right…_ ” Callie parrots back her own words at her from their conversation at the mall. She gives Marie a challenging look. Marie pales. Callie really isn’t giving her any leeway this time.

“Callie…”

“If I agree to yoga or a dance or whatever, will you tell me what this is really about?” Their food rests forgotten on the counter. At this rate, their omelettes are going to get cold.

Marie internally weighs her options. This was as much of a compromise as she was going to get at this point; if she continued to dismiss the conversation, Callie was bound to get mad and hole up in her room again. If she told Callie the truth, her cousin was still likely to get mad or defensive about it and depressed, but… she’d likely be more forgiving if Marie didn’t hold out on her. Callie was a curious Inkling by nature and knowing that someone was deliberately withholding information from her would drive her crazy. To be fair, Marie would feel the same way.

“Okay.” Marie says. Her left leg lightly bounces up and down; it’s a nervous tick she gets when she’s anxious. Callie sees it but says nothing, waiting patiently for her to continue in silence. Thankfully her expression has softened some, but there’s a little bit of worry dancing in her eyes. “So, um… I saw it.” She begins awkwardly. Callie’s brows scrunch up in confusion.

“Saw what?” Callie asks. Her tone is already slightly defensive.

“I was trying to shield you from the light of my phone so I burrowed beneath the comforter and I may have seen…” Marie trails off and pointedly directs her gaze down to Callie’s covered hip.

“Oh.” There was no mistaking what Marie was getting at. Callie looks very uncomfortable.

“How long has that been there? I know you don’t have it now.” Marie says as Callie reaches for the hem of her shirt in an attempt to disprove her. “I promise I won’t judge; I just want to understand.”

Callie turns away from her and props her elbows on the counter. She unenthusiastically takes a bite of her lukewarm omelette.

“I can’t get rid of it…” She admits quietly. Her voice sounds unusually measured; she must be trying to keep her composure. “No matter what I try, I just can’t.”

“But it’s not there now?” Marie doesn’t understand. She’s pretty sure she didn’t see it there when Callie scooted out of the fort earlier.

“I can temporarily make it disappear, but it reforms whenever I fall asleep.” So much for trying to sound composed; she just sounds miserable now. “I can feel it just waiting to crawl back to the surface. If I don’t focus on keeping it apart, it comes straight back. Look at this.” Callie pulls up her shirt enough so that only her hip is visible. Marie watches as her cousin’s body go slack—it takes that much effort to keep it at bay?—and in the blink of an eye she’s once more staring at the dreaded pink octopus tattoo. It taunts them both with their reappearance.

“Oh Callie…” Marie murmurs. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know what this ink is made out of. Whatever it is, it’s permanent.” A sob escapes her throat. Marie recognizes this to be a warning sign; Callie’s about to deteriorate. She pushes up off her bar stool and pulls Callie into a firm hug just in the nick of time. Marie feels her cousin quake in her strong grip as she wails miserably out into the morning light before burying her face in Marie’s shoulder. Marie rubs Callie’s back in as comforting a gesture she can manage and silently encourages Callie to let it all out. Though a bit muffled, Callie’s howls ring in her ears long after she finally stops crying.

“I don’t know how we’re going to do it yet,” Marie whispers, gently rocking Callie as she rides out the last waves of her grief, “but we’ll figure this out together. I promise.”

She has no idea if that’s even possible, but if there’s one thing that everyone should know about Marie, it’s that she _never_ breaks a promise.

She’s not about to start now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter; I was having difficulty writing it for some reason. The words just weren't coming to me as they usually do (rude, I know) and what I did write I was feeling rather pessimistic about. You ever get in one of those moods where you feel like something you've made (or in this case written) is garbage and when you look back at it later you realize there's actually nothing wrong with it? That happened here. Maybe Marie's mood at the beginning of the chapter affected me too, who knows. I guess we all have our moments.
> 
> That said, happy Saturday! Better late than never. Also, happy Splatfest day to everyone in North America. Are you (or were you, if you're reading this after Saturday) team sci-fi or team fantasy? This pick was a hard one for me as I'm a fan of both genres. After I post this I'm actually going to select my team and participate for a few hours. I think I'm going fantasy, but I'll confirm for sure when I'm wearing the team shirt.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you all have a great weekend. I plan on visiting my inbox and answering as many comments as possible tomorrow; I see there's a bit of a backlog now, oops. Hope y'all can forgive me. <3


	12. Practice Makes Perfect

****If Marie were to rate how well she thought the rest of the day went, she’d put it at a solid “well, it could have been worse.” Callie had been very subdued after her breakdown in the morning and at one point sought refuge in her bedroom, but true to her word Callie reappeared to do yoga with her in the early afternoon. Marie had already set up mats in their makeshift studio in the hopes she would show up and so she couldn’t help but smile when Callie finally did. Her smile transformed into a bemused gape though when she saw what her cousin was wearing; Callie had gone full Squid Sisters ensemble, complete with the gloves and boots. The girl crosses her arms and examines Marie’s current attire with a discerning eye. She’s only wearing a green tank top and gray shorts at the moment.

 “Choreography then?” Marie asks, suddenly feeling underdressed for the occasion. Callie nods and scoots out of the way so Marie can head back to her bedroom and get changed. When she returns in her trademark sequinned corset dress and lime green leggings, Marie finds Callie digging through their CD collection. She lets out an “Aha!” as she finds what she’s looking for, holding it victoriously above her head. Marie recognizes the art of the slip cover in the case; it’s the instrumental version of their first album to reach platinum status. Callie shuffles over to a compact boombox sitting on the edge of the desk and pops the disc in. Her index finger hovers over the play button.

“You ready, Marie?” Callie turns to look at her, face lighting up when they make eye contact. She has an awe-struck look on her face; it’s like she’s meeting a celebrity for the first time. Marie feels her cheeks flush but decides to own it, waltzing over with a swagger in her step. Callie always made such a big fuss whenever they were in their performing outfits. She’s not peppering her with praise and admiration this time—Callie tended to go overboard on inflating both their egos as much as possible—but the sparkle in her golden irises speaks volumes. She must be feeling nostalgic for the old days.

So was Marie, if she were to be honest with herself. She craved this just as much as her cousin did. Marie positions herself just to the left of the centermost point of the room, leaving plenty of space available on her right for her partner in crime. She gestures to the open spot with a flourish of her right hand and bows slightly.

“Whenever you are.” She replies, holding that pose until Callie pushes the play button and skips over to inhabit the empty space between them. As the opening notes to _Ink Me Up_ begin to play, Callie and Marie clap to the beat and sway as they step in sync with the music. Marie throws Callie a knowing grin just before the first verse of the song. “Let’s kill this.”

Callie catches her look and adopts a small smile. To Marie’s surprise, she starts to sing. Her voice is soft and hesitant, much unlike the boisterous enthusiasm she usually performs with, but the fact she’s making the effort at all fills Marie’s heart with warmth. Her voice strengthens some when Marie joins in, harmonizing seamlessly together as if they had never been apart. Marie had wondered (and worried) whether time would have dulled their ability to perform, but this session started to give her hope that they could bounce back from their hiatus if they wanted to after all.

Or at least it did at first. They danced and sang to three of their numbers almost perfectly, a little slow transitioning between dance moves maybe but that would improve with practice. Marie started to feel a bit winded after _Now or Never_ and lamented over being out of shape, which Callie could apparently relate to as she leaned against the desk for support. The past year had not been kind to them either physically or mentally and they were starting to feel the burn already. Neither of them wanted to admit their discomfort however so they kept going, stubborn as ever. That proved to be a mistake. The instant the track switched over to _Calamari Inkantation_ , Callie started to fall apart.

The signs were subtle at first. A split second misstep here, being slightly off-key a note there. They were out of practice so it was impractical to believe they’d be flawless on their first try. But as Marie sang her solo verse and swayed her arms about in time with the music, she felt the energy in the room shift. What started off as a nervous excitement to perform soon turned into an anxious weight that tugged at both of their shoulders and threatened to consume them whole. Marie managed to resist the sensation, shrugging it off with the bull-headed stubbornness she was known for, but Callie?

She missed her cue for the chorus, breaking their harmony. She lagged behind in some movements and jagged in others, missing some key beats completely. Her lithe body became lethargic and slow, and her singing was now almost entirely off-key. They got through about two-thirds of the song before Callie let out a furious growl, stomping over to the desk and punching it in frustration. The track skipped a little from being jostled before Callie slams down on the stop button and sags against the desk. She deliberately positions herself facing away from Marie, leaving the silver-tentacled girl with nothing but her back and exposed shoulder blades to look at.

“Callie…” Marie says hesitantly, catching her breath. She instinctively wants to walk over and put a supportive hand on her cousin’s shoulder, but a small voice in her head tells her not to. She can sense that it’s not the right thing to do in this moment. She’s not sure she can bear to have Callie pull away from her again so soon.

“You know you want to say it, so just let it out.” Callie’s shoulders stiffen as if preparing herself for the worst. She looks incredibly tense. Marie waits in expectant silence for her to continue, but she doesn’t. She lets a cloud of anxiety hover over them both instead. Squit. Marie knew she had to tread carefully here; she knew at this point anything she said would probably set Callie off. Marie sighs internally. What happened to her easygoing and relatively carefree cousin from last night and this morning? She’s relieved that the person she loves and knows Callie to be is still in there, based on the glimpses she’s seen of her over the past couple of days. Squid dance parties with Octolad and the pizza and blanket fort sleepover they had last night gave her hope that Callie could recover given enough time and space to do so.

But as her cousin suffers through these temperamental mood-swings, switching from happy to depressed on a dime, Marie starts to wonder if she ever truly knew her cousin at all. Did she always have these feelings of doubt and frustration lingering beneath the surface? Callie put so much effort into being as optimistic and bubbly as possible, and she always tried to have a positive outlook on life. Was it all an act to cover up her true feelings? When they were close to being destitute and Marie felt like giving up, it was Callie that told her to not give up hope. Her confidence and determination on the matter, whether faked or otherwise, managed to pull them out of their rut. Marie had a hard time believing that all to be a lie, but as Callie had just quoted back to her earlier, it’s not hard to lie when you’re not really lying.

What she knew to be Callie, based on the experiences they’ve shared and the notions she’s had of her, were the truth. But what she sees before her now, this quivering individual filled with such self-loathing and doubt, was also the truth. Callie had always tried to be perfect for everyone else. Now it was time for her to learn that it’s okay not to be.

“Okay.” Marie says simply. She knows what Callie expects her to say; is trying to goad her into saying. _That she’s garbage. That she was off-key and lagging behind. That Zaffre Swordfish was right; she really has lost what made her a compelling pop star._ She says none of these things. She knows what she wants to say, and she knows that she hasn’t said it enough. Callie stiffens at the sound of her voice and takes a deep wavering breath. Marie continues anyway. “I love you.”

There is no reaction at first. Her declaration hovers between them like a ship lost at sea, trying to find its way home. Eventually it does. Callie slowly turns around on the heels of her feet, her hands clenched into fists. She looks absolutely livid and her face is stained with tears. Marie doesn’t move from where she stands; instead she softens her expression and extends her arms out invitingly. She doesn’t say anything else. Callie watches this with a mixture of emotions spreading across her face, unable to settle on just one. Anger, hatred, sadness, longing… Acceptance, confusion, elation, relief. Callie has always been an expressive Inkling; whatever she does, she always commits one hundred percent.

She closes the gap between them in seconds and rushes into Marie’s arms, crying openly.

“M-Marie—” Callie huffs between sobs, “you’re an idiot.”

“On some things, perhaps you’re right.” Marie agrees with her. She thinks back to all the fun times they’ve had together, from playing pretend pirates to performing on stage, and how none of it would have been possible if it weren’t for the amazing Inkling standing before her. Then she remembers her promise to always be there for her cousin, and Callie’s heartbreaking response to that promise. _Maybe you shouldn’t be_. Her arms wrap around Callie tighter. “But on this? Never. You’re my best friend, Callie. That’s never going to change.”

It takes a few minutes for Callie to respond. The two of them just stand there quietly, hugging it out as Callie hiccups and takes deep breaths to calm herself down. When she finally does, she gently pulls away from Marie’s arms and wipes away the tear tracks on her cheeks with gloved hands.

“Heh.” Callie’s voice is a little hoarse, probably from both singing and crying afterwards. “I must admit that I’m a little surprised.”

“About what?” Marie pats down her dress to straighten it out; it’s shifted a little amongst all of the commotion. Did it always hang this loosely on her or was this a recent development? It’s been over a year since she last put it on, so it’s hard to say for sure. Maybe she should start eating more.

“You just… I’m not used to you expressing your feelings so freely, I guess. I used to have to bribe you with food to get your thoughts or opinions on anything.” Callie picks at her gloves absentmindedly as she talks. She stops fidgeting and meets Marie’s gaze with a smile. “I love you too.”

“Yeah, well.” Marie crosses her arms and feigns a large pout. It’s obvious that it’s all for show and it gives Callie a small chuckle. “You better get used to it. It’s here to stay, I’m afraid.”

“The horror…” Callie says jokingly, mouth pulling an exaggerated grimace. Marie gently smacks Callie on the arm before linking her own around it, guiding her out of the studio. That’s enough dancing for one day. While it did not go the way she planned, at least it still served its intended purpose; Callie got to let out some steam. Hopefully that would help her rest easy tonight.

It did concern Marie that Callie was affected so adversely the moment their most iconic song played on the boombox, but that was a problem for another time.

*---*

She received another text from LadyHood that evening, asking if they’d be able to meet for practice at 8:00AM at Humpback Pump Track. She felt tempted to text back “I thought you were a night owl?” but Octolad beat her to the punch; apparently the chat had been converted into a group conversation at some point earlier in the day.

 _Lady whyyyyyyyy._ Octolad texted, accompanying it with a sad face.

 _What?_  Was her response. _Does that not work for you?_

 _Well, I_ guess _it does, but… A man needs his sleep, ya know._

 _Good thing I don’t see any men here._ Marie bursts out laughing at that, eliciting a curious look from her cousin. She tells Callie to fetch her phone—it used to be glued to her hip, so Marie’s surprised she doesn’t seem to carry it around much anymore—and check out her notifications. Callie returns from her bedroom with phone in tow and settles back down on the couch. Her eyes flicker left to right as she reads what’s on the screen. She giggles when she reaches the part Marie’s stopped at.

“They’re funny.”

 _Ouch._ They imagine Octolad to flinch at Lady’s barbs; the two did seem to like to joke at the other’s expense. _Not cool, cuz cuz._

 _I told you not to call me that._ They can almost hear the deep sigh she likely emitted from here.

“Should I start calling you cuz cuz?” Callie asks, giving Marie a knowing look. Marie just stares blankly back at her.

“Time to find a new roommate, I think.”

“Marie~” Callie whines, but she’s not worried. She knows Marie isn’t being serious, especially not after the conversations they’ve had today.

“Callie~” Marie mimics back in the same tone with the same inflections. She laughs as Callie looks flabbergasted. She’s really not used to her dishing back the silliness, is she?

 _Mar, Tina, back me up here. Only old people and try-hards are up at eight. Too early for you, right?_ Octolad attempts to appeal to them. Marie checks the time-stamp; he sent that message five minutes ago.

“What do you think? I’ll leave it up to you.” Marie says, looking up from her phone. She wants to give Callie as much choice in the matter as possible. It was important that she do this on her own terms. If at any point Callie didn’t want to continue with the League season, Marie would have them pulled out of it, no questions asked. Marie may have been the one to engineer all of this, but now it was up to Callie to determine their next course of action.

 _Hope you’re ready to be called a try-hard then._ Lady writes back as Callie deliberates her response. _Our first League match is scheduled for 8:00AM on Thursday_.

“She still wants to play with us…” Callie mumbles to herself. She sounds like she can’t believe it, despite all evidence to the contrary. She was really being hard on herself for pushing Lady off of Moray Towers. Her expression brightens. “I’ll treat her to ice cream afterwards. That will work.”

“So you’re good with an 8:00AM start?” Marie reiterates the time. Octolad was clearly against it, but Marie could see Lady’s intentions in having them meet so early. She wanted to prep them in advance of the big day. By having them meet at that exact time, they should be accustomed to it when they were officially expected to play the next day. Marie’s glad that their de-facto leader was of the organized variety; this could have gone a lot worse if she weren’t.

“Yes. We were up earlier than that this morning.” Callie shrugs. It’s not that big of a deal to her. A glimpse of her former early bird mentality is peeking through, from what Marie can tell. “And Lady has a fair point; we should be prepared for it.”

“All right then.” Marie’s thumbs hover over the virtual keyboard as she decides on what to type. Eventually she settles on something simple.

 _Team Try-Hards are a go._ She adds a sunglasses emoticon at the end of the sentence, harkening back to her general ‘Tina’ appearance with the shades.

 _Sorry Octolad_. Callie apologizes.

 _I see how this is._ He types back immediately. _SIGH. You win this time Lady._

 _It was never a competition_. Lady writes. It’s hard to determine whether she meant that literally or if she was just that confident that the conversation would sway in her favor. _Our first League match is Rainmaker, not sure where it’s hosted yet. The mode is in practice rotation tomorrow starting at 8:00AM at Humpback Pump Track and The Reef._

“Oh, I like Rainmaker.” Callie comments. “It’s pretty strong.”

“It’s all yours then.” Marie groans. “Not my forte.” Try as she might, she always found the weapon a little unwieldy and hard to use. In comparison, it was like second nature for Callie the moment she picked it up. Marie was content to provide backup with her charger.

 _Sounds good. We’ll meet you there._ Callie hesitates to add a smiley face, Marie notices. Is she worried about how she’ll be perceived by their teammates? She decides to add it anyway and hits send before she can take it back.

 _Cool, see you tomorrow._ Lady replies in seconds. The messaging app informs them that ‘Lady is typing…’ but they don’t see anything else right away, until—

Sunglasses emoticon. Lady responded to Callie’s emoticon with another emoticon. The relief that pours out of Callie’s being is substantial.

An emoticon just made her cousin’s entire night. Marie rolls her eyes. Maybe she should start taking notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Saturday everybody! Not much to report in regards to this week, but 'eyyyy new chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it; can't really go wrong with more Squid Sisters goodness. :)
> 
> Thank you all for your support as we go on this adventure together; it's been a blast getting to discuss (and play!) Splatoon 2 with a few of you lately. If anyone wants to join in the fun, feel free to add me on the Switch (6578-3762-0400) and/or Discord at LadyHood#5157. Alternatively you can always holler at me in the comments here, whatever works best for you.
> 
> GUYS. Before I forget, you all need to know that shiningsage is an amazing artist and actually drew some fan art for this story, eee! I made a fan art spotlight post on Tumblr here (http://bit.ly/2zE003D) so copy/pasta that into your address bar and give Sage all the kudos and love, she's awesome. Have a great weekend. :)


	13. Make It Rain!

When Callie and Marie arrived bright and early at Humpback Pump Track the next morning, they weren’t too surprised to see that LadyHood had beaten them there. She seemed like the type of squid to be punctual about her appointments, especially if she’s the one that scheduled them. What they were surprised about, however, was that their teammate appeared to be in a heated argument with two riled up Inklings near the foam block pit in the corner.

“I already told you, I’m not interested.” They hear her say. Her voice remains level but they can detect a hint of exasperation beneath the surface.

“Liar! I saw the way you looked at him.” A catty-looking Inkling girl hisses, stomping up and getting right in Lady’s face. She’s wearing a blue sailor suit and a white and green striped hickory work cap that complements her hair. Marie would have found her white kicks fresh if she weren’t distracted by the scene unfolding before her. “Back off.”

“Believe what you want, I don’t care.” Lady sighs. She eyes the quiet male Inkling and grimaces. He looks delighted to be fought over. “He’s not even my type.”

“Oh, now you think you’re _better_ than him? Better than me?” The girl snarls, taking another step forward. She’s so close to Lady now; too close for comfort, but Lady stands her ground.

“Sage—” The male Inkling with pink hair attempts to interrupt, perhaps realizing that they’re making a scene, but it’s too late. Quick as a flash, the girl named Sage draws back and aims the strongest punch she can muster at Lady’s face. Anticipating this, Lady sidesteps out of the way and watches as her assailant extends too far forward and loses her balance, falling into the foam pit below. The girl screams profanities as she descends and crashes harmlessly into the soft blocks.

Lady gives the guy an unimpressed look.

“If you could refrain from stirring up squit with strangers to rile up your girlfriend, that would be great, thanks.” She turns to leave. Her eyes widen marginally as a strong hand roughly pulls her back.

“Did I say you could go?” His voice is dangerously low.

“No, but we did.” Callie walks over to the ongoing commotion, Marie keeping in step beside her. “It’s over. Let her go.”

Lady’s expression is hard to calculate in that moment. She looks both relieved and embarrassed to be caught out in such a situation. The pink-haired guy eyes them both from behind his designer glasses, weighing his options. He might be an idiot to pick a fight, but he knows when he’s outnumbered. He releases Lady’s arm and reaches up to pop his collar. Marie inwardly groans. Ugh, so he’s _that_ type of squid. What a douche.

“I can see that I’m not wanted here.” He says, taking a step back. He locks eyes with Lady, who glowers at him with barely concealed rage. “You don’t have many options available to you, dropout. I’d be careful about who I mouthed off to if I were you.”

“Piss off.” Lady crosses her arms. “This conversation is over.”

“We’ll see.” The guy grumbles. He spares a look at Callie and Marie. “Enjoy hanging out with this loser, I’m out.”

He turns away and starts stalking towards the other end of the building, weaving between some skateboarding Inklings on the way. Marie opens her mouth to retort something back but Lady just shakes her head.

“Leave it. He’s not worth it.” Her shoulders are slumped. Clearly this wasn’t the best start to her morning. “Help me get her out.”

Lady gestures to the green-haired girl that still flails about in the foam pit, unable to find purchase on the ground below. She quieted down some after their last exchange, but she still glares daggers at Lady as if everything’s her fault.

“If you’re sure…” Marie mutters. She leans over and offers out her hand at the same time Lady does. Sage almost looks taken aback by the kind gesture. She gives them both a once over, appearing skeptical. There’s a mischievous glint in her eye as she deliberates taking Lady’s hand.

“I’d advise against doing that.” Callie says sternly, catching the look. “Haven’t you done enough?”

Sage doesn’t reply but she appears to have gotten the message, resigning herself to her fate. She reaches out for their extended hands and allows them to haul her out of the pit. She stumbles when she reaches solid ground and Lady ends up catching her to prevent her from falling. She immediately pushes away from the beret-wearing Inkling and brushes down her sailor shirt to straighten it.

“Thanks… I guess.” She mumbles. She casts a forlorn gaze around the track, realizing she’s been abandoned. “I’ll just be going then.”

“Hey.” Lady’s voice is soft. “You shouldn’t let him treat you that way. He’s not worth your time and you deserve better than that. You’re worth it; don’t settle for less.”

“You—” Sage starts off angrily, her tone dripping venom. Marie almost expects her to attempt to push Lady back into the foam pit, she looks that furious. Then her features soften and there’s a watery look in her eyes now. “You’re a kind squid. Too kind, given how I just treated you.” She looks ashamed. “What’s your name?”

“LadyHood.” is Lady’s simple response. “Take care of yourself, Sage.”

“It’s ShiningSage, actually.” The girl brightens a little when she introduces herself. “I prefer to be called Sage, but… just so you know.”

“Lady.” The purple-haired Inkling offers.

“Lady.” Sage repeats, nodding. “I’ll remember that.” She smiles sheepishly at the two other Inklings standing there. Marie looks disinterested at the whole event but Callie seems a little incensed. She’s wisely keeping it in check for now. “You have good friends.”

“I do.” Lady confirms. She gives Sage a serious look. “Listen. If you have any problems with that guy…”

“Don’t worry about me; he can consider his ass dumped after today.” Sage harrumphs in disgust. “To think he enjoys playing with a girl’s feelings like that! And then to abandon me in my time of need, the audacity of it all…” Sage mutters something so low that it’s incomprehensible. Marie’s not sure she cares to hear it. She’s seen and heard enough already.

“Good.” Lady replies. She shuffles a little awkwardly on her feet. “So, uh, we’ve got a meeting this morning. If you’d excuse us…”

“Oh! Right, right. Sorry.” Sage backs away in record time. She waves as she departs. The moment she exits the room, Lady hides her face with a hand.

“Friggin eh.” She sighs heavily, sliding the hand down her cheek and groaning. “What a morning.”

“Are you all right?” Callie asks the second they’re alone. Lady leads them away from the foam pit and towards the back wall, sitting down on a bench. Marie wants to ask her what that was all about, but she’s not one to press. She’s just grateful Lady seems amiable with them at the moment. She had assumed it would be as such considering Lady’s friendly text messages, but after being on the receiving end of such a hostile glare, Marie wasn’t sure she and her cousin were entirely in the clear yet.

“I’m fine.” Lady glances up and studies Callie’s golden eyes. “Not my finest moment but this too shall pass. How about you? Are you doing okay?”

“M-me?” Callie stutters. She seems caught off guard by the question. “I’m, uh, I’m doing all right I guess, but—oh, I’m SORRY~!” She wails unexpectedly. Lady actually jumps up and holds up her hands as disarmingly as possible at the outburst. While it is a serious moment, Marie is amused at her instinctual reaction. Good to know she cares.

“Whoa! Easy there.” Lady soothes, awkwardly patting Callie’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I can’t claim to understand what happened, but we’re cool.” She adopts a warm smile. “A new day means a fresh start. Just promise you’ll warn me the next time you feel like pushing me off a building, all right?”

“Okay.” Callie chuckles nervously. She’s fiddling with her fingers again, threading and unlinking them as she frets. She’s clearly hesitating to say something, and both Lady and Marie can tell. Marie knows what her cousin is deliberating. They wait patiently in silence until she’s found her voice. “Hey, Lady? Would you like to get some apolo—er, get some ice cream later? As an apology for before. I don’t feel right leaving things are they are.”

It’s Lady’s turn to look surprised. Marie guesses she’s not used to people offering to treat her to things. She finds that a little sad. Even as kids, Callie and Marie were often the recipients of gifts from their family and friends. When they made it big in Inkopolis years later, their fans loved to flood their P.O. Box with cards and letters. They’ve never really been without, even when they were struggling.

“Sure thing, I wouldn’t mind that.” Lady smiles. Callie looks delighted at her response; clearly she expected to be shot down. Marie just stands back and shakes her head in amusement. Callie’s never realized the effect she has on people; her bubbly nature is infectious and lifts even the lowest of spirits. She’s always been that way, and yet she’s still too modest to recognize that things often went her way because she’s a delight to hang out with. One look from her earnest puppy-dog eyes was enough to melt even the most stubborn of souls. Marie’s pretty sure Callie didn’t even notice she was wearing that expression now, but the effect was clear. Lady appears almost bashful as she breaks eye contact to oversee the action going on over at the track.

Callie sits down on the bench next to Lady, patting the empty spot beside her invitingly. Marie rolls her eyes (hard for them to tell behind the dark shades she wears) and plops down beside her, grinning a little as her cousin leans gently against her. Marie can feel that she’s absolutely buzzing with excitement. Now that they didn’t have to worry about the prospect that Lady still secretly hated them, they could relax and enjoy the day—and splat some fools with the rainmaker.

At least that’s what Marie thought at first. They were chilling out and making idle commentary about the sick tre-flips one leather-wearing Inkling was performing on the straight path before them before Lady suddenly got up and started waving at someone on the other side of the building. The tied back green hair, yellow shirt, and lime green sneakers were unmistakable; Octolad had finally arrived. Marie checked the time on her phone. 7:54AM. Practice would begin soon. She slid the phone back in her pocket and bobbed her head to the beat being played over the loud speakers. It’s an Off the Hook number, but she’s not sure which one. She enjoys their songs, but she hasn’t had the time to sit down and learn their names. Soon, perhaps.

Callie eyes Lady warily as the purple-haired Inkling shouts out Octolad’s name. In the hustle and bustle of the room it appears he hasn’t heard or seen her yet.

“I’ll be right back, just gotta grab our teammate.” Lady says. They nod as she jogs off to get her cousin’s attention.

“Marieee~!” Callie hisses under her breath the instant they’re out of earshot. “This is a disaster!”

“It’s Tina now.” Marie shoots back. “What’s wrong? I thought this is what you wanted?”

“It is, that’s the problem!” Callie moans. Marie stares at her perplexedly.

“I don’t follow.”

“Tina, look at me.” Callie waits until Marie’s full attention is on her. “What do you see?”

“Um, you?” Marie says, still confused. Callie gives her a look. Realizing that Marie isn’t being obtuse on purpose, Callie taps the fabric of the white face mask she’s chosen to wear today.

“I can’t eat ice cream wearing this! What am I going to do?” She smacks herself upside the head. “I never even considered how I was supposed to eat.”

Squit, that _was_ a problem. Marie can see why she’s stressing out.

“We’ll figure something out.” Marie promises. She straightens herself when she sees movement out of the corner of her eye. “Hold on tight, we’ve got company."

Callie manages to regain her composure just as Lady and Octolad join them by the bench. Lady is apparently explaining the rules of playing rainmaker to him, judging by the furrowed brow he’s wearing as she breaks down the objective.

“So I don’t go to their base with it.” He says slowly, pondering. It might just be her imagination but Marie swears that Octolad is pulling Lady’s leg a little. “Or ours.”

“No and no. See those elevated platforms out there?” Lady points out the mounds being placed on the track as officials start to shoo away the stragglers hanging out in the center. “You have to swim to the top and slam the rainmaker down on it for us to win. Simple enough, right? Easy to learn, difficult to master. We got this though.” She looks appreciatively in their direction. “We’ve got a great team after all.”

Marie is flattered Lady thinks that, especially considering what happened the day before last. She supposes one match couldn’t completely overshadow the previous nine they had played; that’s a relief.

“I agree.” She says, wearing the trademark smirk her onstage persona is known for. She cracks her knuckles for emphasis. The popping sound they make is strangely satisfying. “They won’t see us coming.”

Lady checks the time on her phone.

“Three minutes to go, we should get ready.” She gestures over to the spawn pad nearest them. It’s elevated high enough that they can’t just walk over to it; they’ll need to ascend a ladder bolted to the side to get up there. Lady takes a step towards the ladder but pauses mid-stride. She turns back to face them. “Mar, can we talk privately for a moment?”

Marie catches the flash of fear in Callie’s eyes; she looks like a deer caught in the headlights. She feels a protective urge swell up inside her as Callie casts an uncertain glance in her direction. She’d do anything for her cousin. If she didn’t want to talk to Lady alone, then—

“Sure.” Callie responds, sounding much more confident than she looks. She gently squeezes Marie’s hand on the sly before rising off the bench as if to say, _I’ll be okay_. She must have sensed Marie’s intentions from the beginning and sought to reassure her. Of course she had noticed her slight change in demeanor; the two of them had always found each other remarkably easy to read. It might be slightly more difficult nowadays given all that’s happened, but they were still close enough to make an educated guess on what the other was thinking.

Marie watches as Lady leads her cousin over to a lone vending machine hanging out by an emergency exit. Their backs are turned to them; Marie can’t hear what they’re saying nor see their expressions to get a read on the conversation. She sighs, drumming her fingers on the bench as she waits. She trusts that Lady isn’t going to be rude or say anything obscene, but their teammate has no idea what Callie—Mar, Marie corrects herself—has been through. She’s worried that the girl is going to say something insensitive and set her cousin off.

“Tina?” A teen boy’s voice interrupts her thoughts. It’s Octolad. She looks up to meet his gaze.

“Hmm?” She hums to let him know she’s listening.

“I’m sure she means well. My cousin, that is.” The green-haired Inkling boy shrugs. Marie opens her mouth as if to ask ‘what?’ but he continues before she can start. “You looked ready to jump her the second she asked to talk to Mar.”

“I did not—” Marie protests immediately. She stops herself. Did it really look that way? Maybe that’s why Callie squeezed her hand. She groans. She hopes Lady didn’t read her reaction the same way the other two apparently did. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“I get it though.” Octolad says. He offers his hand to help her off the bench; she takes it and they start meandering slowly over to the ladder. “You remind me of her, you know. She always went out of her way to look out for me, even when I—” He inhales sharply. The pain in his voice and the sheer amount of guilt weighing on his words catches her off guard. She’s not sure she wants to know where he was heading with that sentence. “Listen. You two seem really close. Hang on to that tight, okay? It’s hard these days to come by. But don’t smother it either. You gotta let it breathe or else it might break.”

Marie wasn’t sure what to expect when she was left alone with Octolad, but this conversation certainly wasn’t it. She understands what he is saying though; understands even more what he’s _not_ saying. She can read between the lines. His advice is also a warning. It really makes her wonder what happened between them to have him speak of it like a cautionary tale. Their relationship, from what she’s seen, she could only describe as disjointed at best. It’s sad to think about. She’s really fortunate that the last year didn’t cripple her relationship with Callie beyond repair. If they could get through that, they could get through anything; that’s what she believes. Still, she’s grateful for the reminder not to be too overbearing. It was easy to fall into that role where Callie was concerned.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Marie stops walking as they reach the ladder. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He looks a little sheepish. “So uh… ladies first?”

“Sorry to keep you both waiting.” They hear two pairs of footsteps approach from behind. As soon as he hears his cousin’s voice, Octolad’s demeanor shifts back into the aloofness he wore before. Marie can _see_ the walls going up; his moment of vulnerability is quickly masked by casual indifference. He shrugs in response to Lady’s words and scales the ladder without saying anything else. Now actively searching for it, Marie waits with a critical eye for Lady’s reaction. The girl is remarkably difficult to read. The blank expression she wears doesn’t appear natural, but maybe Marie is looking too hard into it. Just as she’s about to give up and check on her cousin, the briefest flash of frustration crosses Lady’s eyes.

 _There it is_. Marie thinks to herself. Lady does really well in hiding it, but what’s become of her relationship with Octolad bothers her. She still cares, even if she obviously tries very hard not to. Though Marie feels slightly guilty that she orchestrated all of this on Callie’s behalf without even considering their teammates’ side of the equation, now she feels glad too. Perhaps being forced to spend time together and working to achieve the same goal will help them start to mend what is broken between them.

“It’s fine.” Marie says in response. She offers a warm smile at their teammate. “Ready to kick some butt?”

Lady glances over at Callie for a moment before answering. Marie takes that opportunity to do the same, finding that her cousin seems to be a lot more relaxed than before. Good. She’s glad that their private chat went well, whatever it was about.

“You know it.” Lady grins.

~***~

 _Wow_.

Marie doesn’t know how else to react to what just happened. They climbed up to the spawn pad, idled for about thirty seconds before the countdown began and a display showed them their opponents—Sage and that douche were on the opposite team, figures—and when it started, it pretty much ended.

Seriously. She got up in position on one of the elevated curves of the track to provide support from the rear, but that turned out to be entirely unnecessary. Marie learned very quickly what her cousin and teammate had talked about by the vending machine; strategy. It had to be. There was no other explanation for how seamlessly the two wreaked havoc on the battlefield. Callie waged a full frontal assault and distracted their opponents with heavy flicks from her roller as Lady flanked them and splatted them from behind. Octolad released a full clip from his heavy splatling into the barrier surrounding the rainmaker, popping it instantly. Callie grabbed it and followed Lady as the beret-wearing Inkling painted a trail that wrapped around the corner and straight up towards the mound on their opponent’s side. The enemy team respawned before they could slam it down, but Lady seemed to anticipate this and played the spacing game with a barrage of suction bombs that prevented their approach. Callie didn’t react adversely to this, much to Marie’s surprise. Her cousin swam completely unhindered all the way to the mound, slamming the rainmaker effortlessly down on its crest.

A whistle sounded and some spectating squid kids cheered as their team regrouped by the spawn pad. Octolad looks as bemused as Marie feels by the display. Two shots. She only fired two shots that match and she used them to create a path to her vantage point.

“Twenty-seven seconds.” Octolad reads the frozen timer on the scoreboard. He sounds awed by the experience. “Do all rainmaker matches go that fast?”

“No.” Marie replies immediately. “They usually take a few minutes, but it appears we have some seasoned profreshionals on our team.”

Callie beams at their comments. Marie’s heart fills with warmth at the sight. Good for her, she deserves all the love and praise for that performance. Marie’s glad she’s actually soaking it all in.

Lady looks a little distracted. Callie appears to notice at the same time she does because her cousin gently nudges the preoccupied squid on the arm. She jumps at the contact, blinking fast and whirling her attention back on them. Huh. Marie checks out where Lady was looking before to find that she had been staring at their opponents on the opposite side of the room. More specifically she had been watching the pink-haired guy—Sergeant, the scoreboard said he was—with careful interest. Lady didn’t relax when the guy finally left the building, ditching Sage and their teammates without another word. Marie frowns. How does Lady know this guy? There’s an implied past history there, and Marie’s not comfortable knowing that a brazen squithead like that seems to have it out for their teammate.

“Great work Mar. That was fantastic.” Lady holds her hand up for a high-five; Callie slaps it with her own rather enthusiastically.

“Let’s do that again.” Callie is raring to go. The adrenaline and excitement from their victory still courses through her veins.

“Sure thing.” Lady laughs. “Just don’t expect it to be so easy all the time. We got lucky.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it…” Octolad mutters under his breath. “That was calculated, pure and simple.”

Marie had to agree with him. Nothing ever went that smoothly on a whim.

They spent the next hour at Humpback facing off against random teams. They went near undefeated the whole time, largely thanks to their close range strikers having an aptitude for the track. One team managed to catch them off guard and blemish their otherwise perfect record. At least they didn’t get wiped in the first thirty seconds, but it was still an upset as far as the bystanders watching were concerned. Cheers and boos alike rang out aplenty as their loss appeared on screen. It sounded like they had just as many supporters as they did naysayers. Oh well. It was bound to happen eventually. Audiences liked to root for the underdog, and as far as their session had gone this morning, they were not matching that description at the moment.

They take a break to stay hydrated. Marie can hear Lady complimenting Octolad on an excellent double splat he made with the stingray in the last match. He doesn’t say much, but he looks pleased to be recognized. Callie links an arm around hers and gently tugs.

“We’re going to the little squid’s room.” Callie announces to the group. “Are we heading out to get some rounds in at The Reef after?”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Lady confirms with a nod. “I think we’ve got this place down pat; time for the next one.”

“Bit of an understatement.” Marie laughs. She allows herself to be tugged in the direction of the bathroom. “We’ll be right back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday! A new week, a new chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it. Apologies if it feels like it just sort of ended there, but it could have continued going for quite some time and I figured you'd all want something to read this week LOL.
> 
> I wanted to thank you all for your continued support with this series; it's been a blast both discussing it with you all and playing Splatoon 2 together. You're all crazy good at the game and keep me on my toes. Looking forward to more games in the future!
> 
> This chapter also introduces Sage as a character in this world. Real life Sage is a sweetheart, and the AU Sage will be too after some development. AU Sage is based on her Inkling's actions in Aspen's plaza--she gets a little hung up and jelly about relationships, and in one instance LadyHood apparently 'stole' her man, which is where the start of this chapter comes from. Hope you don't mind being part of some drama Sage. ^.^;;
> 
> Have a great weekend everybody. <3


	14. Double Scoop

“I want to tell her.”

Marie whirls around in place at this declaration, putting a finger to her own lips to silence her cousin. When Callie obliges, albeit begrudgingly, Marie does a quick sweep of the perimeter to ensure there would be no eavesdroppers on their conversation. There is no one else in the bathroom at the moment thankfully, but…

“You can’t.” Marie hisses quietly anyway. She drags Callie into the largest stall at the far end to give themselves some privacy.

“Why not?” Callie pouts, puffing out her lips. “Grandpa always said we should be true to ourselves, and this—this just feels dishonest. She should know what she’s been signed up for.”

“And Octolad?” Marie raises a brow. She notices her cousin has neglected to mention him.

“Both of them.” Callie says without missing a beat. Marie sighs. She hates being put in this position; the one that deliberately has to kill Callie’s mood for the greater good.

“So say you tell them. What happens then? Are you prepared for the onslaught of questions you’re going to get? _Where have you been? Why haven’t you been performing?_ ” Marie can see Callie visibly deflate but continues to get her point across. “You’ve known them for a whopping three days; how can you trust that they’re not going to blab to the media for money about us the first chance they get?”

“They wouldn’t do that…” Callie protests, but she sounds uncertain. Of LadyHood, of Octolad, or both?

“We don’t know them yet.” Marie reminds her gently, placing her hands on quivering shoulders. “And if anyone finds out who we are, it’d be chaos. I’m definitely not ready for that; are you?”

“No.” Her cousin admits reluctantly. Her shoulders droop, though they still support Marie’s hands on them. “I just…”

“I know.” Marie says as the other squid’s voice trails off. She pulls Callie into a hug. “And if you still feel this way later, this topic is always open for discussion. Just give it time, okay? Let’s get to know them first; see what they’re all about. We’re not the only ones keeping secrets here.”

“…Okay.” Callie agrees, sounding miserable. She pulls away from Marie and takes a swipe at her watery eyes. She’s trying not to cry. Marie’s mood plummets. It feels like a punch in the gut to be the cause of her cousin’s distress.

“Hey.” Marie says softly. She wants to reach out again but refrains, knowing that Callie needs her space. “It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. You’ve got an ice cream date to attend, remember?”

That definitely spikes Callie’s energy levels; she goes from downtrodden to a frenzied panic within seconds.

“But how can I without her figuring out who I am? I can’t take the mask off, but I have to if I want to eat. Is it weird to invite someone out for ice cream and then not eat any yourself? I’d find that weird, wouldn’t you? Ahhhh, Marieeeee~” Callie elongates her name with practiced ease, but then pauses mid-whine. “Wait, did you say _date_? Is that how it came across? I don’t think I’m ready for that, I—”

“It’s just an expression, calm down.” Marie shakes her head. Poor choice of words on her part, she guesses. Still, it’s never driven her cousin into a tizzy before. Outside of their current League commitments, Callie was terribly out of practice in regards to having social engagements; that’s probably where the nerves came from. Marie understood the feeling perfectly. Without Callie there to encourage her in the last year, Marie became a bit of a recluse. She holed herself up in her own mental fortress of solitude, interacting with people only to find out if they were a suitable Agent candidate. She had little hope of finding someone with the drive and skills needed to help her rescue Callie (or the Great Zapfish) until she found who would later become Agent 4, Sebastian Waterford. “I have an idea.”

Marie reaches up to her own face. Callie stills at the movement, seeing what she’s doing. Her mouth is half-open in protest, but the words are frozen in her throat. Marie removes the shades and stares at her cousin with an unobstructed gaze.

“I-I can’t…” Callie’s voice wobbles. She gets what Marie is suggesting; it’s a good plan, would probably work even, but…

“This won’t do anything to you, I promise.” Marie replies as soothingly as possible. She knew Callie would have an aversion to the idea, but did they really have any other options here? Besides cancelling it, which would be pretty rude after _just_ extending the invitation out to Lady. “Watch this.”

She waits until she’s sure she has Callie’s attention before she demonstrates how safe the shades are. She pops them on and off in quick succession, making a bunch of silly faces every time she takes them off. Callie still looks anxious but a slight uptick of her mouth reveals that she finds Marie’s antics amusing. Marie stops and leaves the shades to rest on the bridge of her nose.

“Do you trust me?” Marie asks. Callie nods at her wordlessly. “Okay. Close your eyes.”

Marie watches as her cousin takes a deep breath and does what she’s told. Her body is tense; too tense, with hands curled into fists at her sides. She’s shaking and biting her lip. The girl is mutely terrified at the prospect of what’s to come, but she’s doing her best to rein it in for Marie’s sake. Marie feels guilty for subjecting Callie to these feelings, but hopes that what she’s doing will help Callie out further in the long run. Callie has a ton of mental hurdles to get through if she wants to regain a sense of normalcy in her life. Getting her out of the apartment was the first major step; this was the next logical step to take.

Marie slowly takes the shades off her face and slides them onto her cousin’s, mumbling reassurances as she does. Callie says nothing through the whole ordeal, remaining frozen in place while the deed is done. She exhales a quiet shuddering breath when the cool metal of the frames wrap around her ears. Marie takes a step back and waits.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Callie is much more reluctant to open her eyes, Marie finds out. She can understand why. It takes some time, but eventually scared golden irises take a peek at her from behind dark-tinted sunglasses. Her heart soars from the simple act. Her cousin squeaks and falls back into the stall divider with a heavy thud. Callie immediately reaches for the shades to rip them off her face, but hesitates when she catches the expression Marie is wearing.

“Marie?” Callie speaks through a choked whisper. “Are you crying?”

“No.” Marie responds, crossing her arms. A sniffle from her nose betrays her true feelings. “I’m just… I’m so proud of you, Callie. You’re so brave.”

Callie pushes herself off the wall and closes the distance between them. There are definitely tears in Marie’s eyes; a sentiment she shares with her own for different reasons. She doesn’t say anything, instead acting on impulse and burying her face into Marie’s shoulder. It’s uncomfortable while wearing the shades because it presses into her skin, but when Marie wraps her arms protectively around her, she finds that she doesn’t care about the minor discomfort. She feels safe, and that’s all that matters.

“I love you.” Callie’s voice is muffled through the fabric of her jacket, but Marie hears it and smiles. She squeezes her cousin tighter.

“I love you too.” She lessens her grip and gives Callie a pat on the back. “I think we’ve hung out in here long enough, don’t you?”

“Yeah…” Callie replies with a soft giggle. She pulls away and brushes the tears from her eyes. “They’re probably wondering if we fell in.”

Marie grimaces. She’s not sure she wants to know what the other half of their team thinks of their extended absence in the bathroom. She knows she’d find it questionable if she were the one waiting outside.

“Here.” Callie says, unclipping the white face mask from behind her ears. She hands it over to Marie. “I believe this belongs to you.”

It feels like the passing of the torch in some way. When Marie puts it on, it suddenly feels like equilibrium has returned to the world. This is how it was always meant to be. Wearing it feels like greeting an old friend.

“So… you good?” Marie asks her cousin, giving her a second once over. She’s relaxed significantly, though there’s still tension resting on her shoulders.

“I will be.” Callie responds. She adopts a huge smile on her face that Marie can see now that it’s not covered by the face mask. She repeats herself. “I will be.”

~***~

Photosensitivity. They were sensitive to sunlight.

That was the explanation Tina gave Lady when she noticed her raised brow. The beret-wearing Inkling had immediately taken note of the sudden change in wardrobe. Of course she had; it wasn’t exactly hard to miss. If Octolad had noticed he chose not to comment on it, gearing up instead for their next hour of rainmaker at The Reef. He was probably grateful that Mar and Tina had returned to interrupt their otherwise excruciatingly awkward silent hangout in their absence. Lady had complimented him on his use of the heavy splatling, which he replied with a brisk thank you before turning away.

Lady sighs. All that camaraderie on the field with their teammates, but the moment they’re alone her cousin goes back to shunning her. Figures.

Practicing rainmaker at The Reef turned out to weigh heavily in her favour as a resident of the area. She knew all of the shortcuts and the best way to apply pressure on the opposing teams. They still lost a couple of rounds (one of them was her fault; she became overconfident and pushed too far solo into the enemy’s territory and got overwhelmed) but overall they were shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with. They still had a ways to go—well, she and Octolad had a ways to go; Mar and Tina perused the battlefield like seasoned veterans and rarely ever got splatted—but their mistakes were something they could work on. She could honestly see them going far in this thing if they were all truly committed to it.

She feels a twinge of excitement at the thought. It’s always been her dream to participate in a season of League. When rvMatt1 had asked her if she wanted to be teammates, she had instinctively wanted to accept the invitation. But she didn’t. Her work schedule was very demanding, leaving precious little free time for much else. Most of the League season did not line up well with her other commitments. The early morning matches were a cinch for her, but the late afternoon and early evening rounds could prove to be a problem. She would have to make do though; she’d find a way.

“Looking at the schedule, the next rotation is splat zones at Mako Mart and Kelp Dome. Want to take a break for food and then get some more practice in?” Lady says, checking her phone.

“Uh, you guys can if you want, but I’ve got plans.” Octolad replies, hoisting up his splatling. “I think we’re good to go for our rainmaker match tomorrow. I know it’s at 8AM, but where?”

“Here, actually.” Lady gestures around to the surrounding area. “Our being here this morning _may_ have been planned in advance.”

“Smart.” Tina hums in approval.

Lady really wants to ask Octolad what his plans are, but she’s not sure he would tell her even if she did.

“How about we meet here for quarter to eight? Just to give us some time to set up, and if one of us is running late…” Lady side-eyes Octolad as she says this.

“Hey! I was on time today.” He catches her look and harrumphs with an upturned nose. “Three minutes early, in fact.”

Mar laughs at the interaction. She’s been rather quiet since she’s donned the shades, Lady has noticed. Maybe the morning rays really were irritating her eyes. Lady still finds it odd that they chose to swap mid-practice, but who was she to judge? It didn’t make any difference in their playing capabilities; if anything, they actually seemed to do _better_ after the switch. The team records wouldn’t reflect that, but Lady would bet coins that their individual statistics had improved. That could also have been because of the change in environment though.

“Regardless.” She says, staring at him blankly. “Don’t be late.”

“Yes, mother…” He grumbles. Though she can’t see it because of the glare on his shades, she just knows that he’s rolling his eyes. He always does when he adopts that tone with her. His expression brightens a little when he faces Mar and Tina. “Great games today guys! Was fun playing with you both. We’re going to kick butt tomorrow.”

He rests the weight of his splatling in the crook of one arm while he extends a fist out with the other. Tina chuckles a little, giving him a gentle tap with her own fist before he swivels to face Mar. She returns his with a much more enthusiastic bump than her cousin, wide grin freely seen now that she wasn’t wearing the face mask. His face mirrors hers at the exchange.

“See you all tomorrow bright and early.” He twirls a finger in the air, a ‘whoop-de-doo’ gesture if Lady ever saw one. He breaks away from the group and starts walking across the bridge, stopping at the other side to turn back and wave. Mar and Tina both wave in a way Lady feels is practiced—do they wave to people often? It just seems odd—and joins them with a half-hearted attempt of her own. She doesn’t feel like he was really waving for her benefit, and the second she joins in he stops and turns away. Yep. Called that one from a mile away.

“I guess if we’re not practicing any more today, I’m going to go for a jog.” Tina announces. She’s already doing some preliminary stretches; this must have been her intention from the beginning. Mar tenses up at her words. “I’ll be in the neighbourhood, don’t worry. You two were going for ice cream, right? Where you headed to?”

“Um…” Mar throws Lady a helpless look. “I don’t know the area very well. What’s good?”

“There’s an ice cream parlour across the bridge that sells _amazing_ coffee ice cream.” Emphasis on the word amazing, Lady muses in her head. It’s the only place she’ll go to when she’s in the mood for frozen dessert. “It’s called Emerald’s Ice Cream Emporium. If you continue heading straight beyond where the opponent’s spawn point is, it’s about two blocks from there.”

“All right.” Tina finishes her stretches and straightens her back. “I’ll meet up with you at the parlour after my run.”

“Okay.” Mar says, rubbing her hands together and interlinking her fingers. She looks relieved. Was she nervous about being away from her cousin? Lady’s never seen them apart, but then again she’s only just met them. “See you soon.”

“Have a good run.” Lady waves with a little more gusto this time. Tina smiles and briefly salutes her back before jogging away from them. They both watch as she quickly whips around a corner and out of sight. “Wow. She’s fast.”

“You don’t know the half of it; she always won our games of tag.” Mar groans, reliving the memory. “Try as I might, I could never keep up with her.”

“If it’s any consolation, Octolad was much the same way. He’d lord it over me any time he won.” It’s Lady’s turn to roll her eyes. They start heading in the direction of the ice cream parlour.

“Really? You’re usually the first one to reach the midfield from what I’ve seen.” Mar says, reflecting on past experience. They reach the corner of an intersection just as the lights turn red. “It’s hard to keep up with you sometimes.”

“I only have the advantage because Octolad chooses to wield such a bulky weapon.” Lady shakes her head. “The heavy splatling of all things—it slows him down considerably. I tried to talk to him once about playing to his strengths, but he shut down the moment I brought it up.”

“About that…” Mar starts uncertainly, rubbing her hands together. She looks like she’s contemplating something; weighing the pros and cons perhaps. Eventually she comes to a decision and speaks up again. “Can I ask you about your relationship with him? You’re allowed to say no, of course, but…”

The light turns green. Lady wastes no time in stepping out onto the road the second she’s legally allowed to. Maybe it was because of the question she now mulled over in her head, but she didn’t notice the immediate danger until it was too late.

A screech of tires, a shout of alarm; her collar becomes uncomfortably tight as a great amount of force suddenly yanks at her throat. She inhales sharply from the pain as she feels gravity drag her down. She expects to smack her head against the curb of the sidewalk; that’s her current trajectory, based on how she’s falling. She closes her eyes and braces for the impact.

Huh. It’s much softer than she was anticipating.

“Watch where you’re going!” The shouting she hears above her is loud and angry. The engine of a car cuts through the air with a large growl as its driver slams on the accelerator, gunning away from the scene. Lady feels something behind her move, guiding her to stand up on wobbly legs. “Get back here!”

Lady blinks once before she’s overwhelmed with a sudden case of sensory overload. The make of the car—a slate grey Mercedes convertible, curved headlights, with a weird macho man figurine attached to the dash. It bobbles and flexes with the tremor of the vehicle as it drives over the asphalt. The soft cotton fabric of the magenta colored hoodie her head unceremoniously smacked against as she went down; strong arms catching her as she fell. The aggressive tone of her teammate as she hollers at her would be hit-and-runner as they speed away. Lady blinks again. She remembers slick pink hair, a popped collar, and a haunting malicious grin; that couldn’t have been…

She gasps for air.

“Lady! Lady, are you okay?” Her eyes trail down and see that she’s back on the sidewalk now. As her gaze makes the trip back up, she realizes that her legs have buckled and aren’t supporting her weight on their own any more. Mar’s holding her firmly in place.

“I’m sorry.” Lady mumbles quietly. “Please don’t tell Octolad about this.”

“Wha—why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault! You’re not the one that ran a red light.” Mar’s voice is thick with concern. She glances around and meets eye contact with some of the witnesses. The neighbourhood Inklings are calling out to them, asking if they’re all right. Lady pales at the attention. “Why, I have half a mind to—”

“Let’s just go.” Lady interrupts Mar’s train of thought. She wills strength back into her legs and shrugs out of Mar’s grip, opting to pull her by the wrist across the street without further preamble. She wants to get away from there as soon as possible. Lady can see the beginnings of a protest form on Mar’s face and shakes her head. “Mar.”

She sounds desperate.

Mar nods. If that’s what Lady needs right now, that’s what she was going to get.

They walk the rest of the way to the ice cream parlour in silence. They both needed time to collect their thoughts after what just happened. For Lady, it gave her the chance to regain her composure; gave her a chance to breathe through a bruised windpipe and mull over the event on repeat. She’s not sure what Mar’s thinking about, but her gait is tense and one of her hands has protectively latched itself onto the sleeve of her leather jacket to keep her close. They had to pass through another intersection to reach the parlour, which spiked her nerves a bit, but they made it across with no difficulties.

The parlour itself is rather quaint. The small building nestles between two much taller ones, completely covered by their shadows at certain times of the day. Where it lacks in size, it more than makes up for with personality; the quirky décor of the exterior is bright and colorful, grabbing the eye with pastel greens and purples lining the front patio’s rails. Carefully grown strands of ivy snake around the wooden mesh of the rails. Round tables are shaded by green and white umbrellas that flutter in the breeze, protecting the store’s patrons from the rays of the sun. There is a decal on the window of the main entrance; a cartoonish-looking green-haired Inkling winks with a beaming smile that welcomes all passersby to the premises of Emerald’s Ice Cream Emporium.  

“Aww, that’s really cute.” Mar says as her eyes scan the building. “When you said it was an emporium, I thought it was going to be more like a restaurant chain, not a mom-and-pop store.”

“Technically it’s both.” Lady replies. Her voice is notably subdued; she’s still shaken up over almost getting hit by a car. “It started off here as a small local business and grew so popular that it’s expanded across the city. They’re planning to open a branch in Arowana Mall in the next few months from what I’ve heard. None of the other locations boast quite the same aesthetic though. This one’s special.”

Mar hums in approval.

“And you said they had amazing ice cream? I’m sold.” The black-haired Inkling grins. It falters as her thoughts take her elsewhere; Lady finds out where in a hot two seconds. “Hey, are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine.” She attempts to reassure her. She’s not sure what it would take to convince her; she _was_ fine, a little rattled perhaps, but nothing that wouldn’t settle with time. “Thanks for… for pulling me back. You saved me.”

“I grabbed at the first thing I could reach.” Mar says. Her tone is completely apologetic. “Sorry if I strangled you with your collar, but...”

 _Not the worst thing that’s happened to me_ , Lady thinks to herself. She blanches at the thought.

“I didn’t get hit by a car, so it’s all good.” She lets out a forced laugh. Neither of them finds it very funny. “Let’s go get some ice cream, yeah?”

“All right.” Mar agrees. She doesn’t say anything else, but she keeps a wary eye on Lady just in case. Lady tries her best to ignore Mar’s gaze. While it’s comforting to know that someone cares, she didn’t like being made to feel like she was some fragile thing that needed to be looked after. That said, she doesn’t pull away from the hand still attached to her sleeve as they enter the store.

“Welcome to Emerald’s Ice Cream Emporium, home of the widest selection of frozen desserts in Inkopolis!” A familiar masculine voice greets them proudly. “What can I get for you—oh, LadyHood!”

Lady jumps at the mention of her name. She whips her head around to face the speaker. Behind the counter stands a tall Octoling boy, his black tentacles with frosted pink tips tied back and secured under a hair net. His silver eyes absolutely beam with excitement as he looks at her, and his large pointed central incisors are on full display as a big smile spreads across his face. Lady feels the grip on her sleeve tighten suddenly and she realizes—this is Marny, Marina’s younger brother. This is the same guy that accidentally set Mar off on a traumatic episode as they played a friendly game of turf war on Moray Towers. Lady instinctively steps in front of her teammate to shield her from view, drawing all the attention to herself.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you! It was amazing getting to play a round of turf with you the other day, but we didn’t really get the chance to talk. I was _beside_ myself when Marina said she ran into you the next day; I was so jealous.” He’s bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as he talks; his work persona has completely vanished upon her arrival. She finds this reception to be very strange and at the same time oddly flattering. He wanted to meet her? She’s not sure why, it wasn’t like she was a big name like the Squid Sisters or, you know, _his sister_. “I picked up the dualies because of you, you know. Salmonford _hates_ it. He says I have to learn a real weapon like the one he plays.” He eyes the clock on the wall as he mentions her cousin. It still sounds so foreign to her to hear her cousin’s real name being spoken so casually to her by strangers. By famous strangers, no less. “He’s going to teach me how to use a heavy splatling today after work.”

“He is?” Lady says, surprised. Are these the vague plans Octolad had bailed out of League practice for? She quickly wraps her head around everything else he said. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you too. You’re Marny, right?”

He looks delighted that he knows her name. He nods enthusiastically in response. Is this what it felt like to be a celebrity? She knows she’s barely above a nobody besides some exposure from a few of her matches being broadcasted on the INB, but Marny makes her feel like a star. It uplifts her mood significantly after it plummeted down the road.

“It is.” He taps the name tag on the white apron he wears proudly. She sees for the first time that he’s wearing a green-and-white striped sweater underneath it. Is that the new employee uniform here? It matches the umbrellas outside, but she remembers from the last time she visited a few months ago that the uniforms were black polyester polo shirts tucked into green slacks. Either the uniforms got an overhaul or Marny was a special case. He gasps. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was so excited I forgot myself.” He chuckles sheepishly. “What can I get for you both today?”

“It’s quite all right.” Lady reassures him as Mar takes a step out from behind her and approaches the counter. Between them is a long freezer unit with a protective glass case to keep their customers from sticking their fingers in the ice cream. She scans the assortment of flavours until she finds one that interests her; or at least Lady assumes it does based on the low ‘oooohhh’ she mutters as she finds it. “I’d like to have the coffee please, and Mar will have…”

“The magical marble unicorn.” _The what?_ Lady eyeballs the ice cream in question. She’s never heard of the flavour before, but from the helpful little diagram on the carton, it appears to be strawberry, banana, and cotton candy ice cream mixed together. A weird concoction in Lady’s opinion, but not the worst combination she’s ever heard of.

Marny follows up with two more questions; bowl or a cone, and one or two scoops.

“Double scoop for both, please.” Mar replies. She still averts her gaze, but Marny’s too preoccupied with his job to notice. Lady catches on though and frowns. Does Mar have a problem with Marny? He’s a sweet kid as far as she can tell. The way he talks so animatedly about meeting up with Salmonford, he had to be. Salmonford’s personality could be abrasive at the best of times, and downright impossible at the worst. His enthusiasm about hanging out with her cousin is entirely genuine; there’s a sparkle in his eyes that would be hard to fake. “I’ll take it in a cone.”

“A bowl for me, thanks.” Lady says, observing both of them and wondering. She watches Mar more closely, trying to gauge her thoughts through her actions. She seems… hesitant to interact with him. Does she know him from somewhere? She addresses him in a polite tone, but she never once chances a look at him. Her eyes are peeled to the ice cream display and his preparation of their respective portions. Did she really find it that interesting or did she just not trust that he wouldn’t tamper with it?

He asks them about what they’d like to mix in with their ice cream—Emerald’s Ice Cream Emporium prides itself in its ridiculously large selection of toppings; from chocolate to candy and cookie dough to fruits and nuts, they really had it all—and Lady opts to keep hers pure. Sometimes she likes to dabble with peanut butter cups or cookie dough or sprinkles (whatever she’s in the mood for, really), but today she just wants the good ol’ coffee ice cream plain. Mar keeps hers mostly simple, but she can’t deny adding marshmallows and rainbow sprinkles to her magical marble unicorn. The end result looks like a sugary explosion of color that probably tastes _very_ sweet.

Mar pays for the order—she insists and bats Lady’s hand away when she reaches for her wallet—saying that it’s her treat. She rather hastily says goodbye to Marny and makes her way towards an empty table out on the patio. Lady is a bit slower to follow, thanking Marny for his service and saying that it was nice to meet him.

“We’ll have to hang out sometime; I’d love to get some dualies tips from you.” Marny unties the strings of his apron and takes it off, hanging it up on a hanger near the back door. He informs one of his coworkers that he’s heading out—oh, that one is wearing the familiar black polyester polo shirt—and punches something into the till before shuffling around the counter. He holds his hand out (his fingers have frosted pink tips just as Marina's are teal) for a handshake. Lady’s a little bewildered but accepts, immediately caught off-guard when he pulls her into a one-armed hug. Are all Octolings this touchy-feely? Marina also didn’t seem to have any regard for personal space. She laughs a little awkwardly and bids him farewell, telling him to give her cousin a hard time. He frowns at that, possibly not realizing it to be a joke. He shrugs and waves before he heads out the door. Lady follows suit a moment later to rejoin Mar out on the patio.

She sits down to find Mar staring rather intensely at Marny’s retreating back, her ice cream resting forgotten in the cone in her hands. It’s starting to dribble from the late morning heat. Summer was in full swing now, and based on the temperatures they’ve been having already, this one was sure to be a scorcher. Mar breaks away from her keen focus on the Octoling when Lady plops down on the seat opposite her with one brow raised.

“Mar.” She speaks softly. She doesn’t want to assume anything of her teammate. She doesn’t know much about her, but from what she’s seen Mar is usually very kind, if not a little demure. The current suspicious nature that wraps around her like a cloak seems ill-fitting for the pink clothed Inkling. “Everything okay?”

“Yes.” Mar replies quickly; too quickly to be true. She sighs. “No.”

Lady takes the small spoon in her cup to scoop up some ice cream and eats it. Dear cod, the coffee is _delicious_.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Lady says slowly, watching for Mar’s reaction. She looks troubled. She’s biting her lip and tapping her foot on the deck of the patio. “It’s okay if you don’t.”

“I want to be honest with you, Lady.” She stops tapping her foot. “But I don’t know if I can be.”

 _Then what’s stopping you?_ Is what Lady would like to ask, but she doesn’t want to press. She’s been curious about Mar’s situation ever since she shoved her off the tower. Lady’s not an idiot; she can recognize a sufferer of post-traumatic stress disorder from a mile away. Mar exhibited several signs of it during that fateful turf war match the other day. Whatever happened to her, Lady knew that a bomb rush was one of her triggers; Marny’s suction bomb barrage had sent her into a tizzy. That’s why she had pulled Mar aside at Humpback Pump Track to ask her for permission to use them first. That was her special of choice, but if her teammate wasn’t comfortable with it, she’d have to make do without them.

“You don’t owe me an explanation.” Lady says instead. She lays her bowl of ice cream on the table and leans in to study Mar’s face. It’s hard to see the Inkling’s eyes from behind Tina’s borrowed shades, but from what little she can glimpse of them, they look anxious. Then she leans back against her chair, covering her face with a hand. Is she really going to go through with this? With the exception of rvMatt1, she’s never told a soul what she’s about to reveal next. _Trust is a two-_ _way street_.  She doesn’t know why she feels compelled to share this with Mar, but her gut instinct is prompting her to. Maybe if she knows the truth, Mar would feel less alone about whatever it is she’s facing right now. Lady removes her hand from her face and sits up straight. “But I feel like I owe you an explanation or two. You asked about my relationship with Octolad, right?”

She laughs, but somewhere along the way it turns into a groan.

“Where do I even begin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might be the longest one yet. Ice cream is serious business.
> 
> Happy Friday! Hope this week has been treating you well and that you get to relax and play some games on the weekend. What team is everyone on for the NA Splatfest this time? Sweaters versus Socks... I'm inclined to go for socks because of their year-round utility (it's much easier to hide ugly socks under pants and shoes, after all), but I'm tempted to go sweaters simply because the ink is going to be red. I clearly make my decisions on the important factors in life, LOL.
> 
> A HUGE thank you to chicameme (http://bit.ly/2Bsyxla) and iloveketchupflavoredicecream (http://bit.ly/2BpQ1iq) on Tumblr and Lyn (http://bit.ly/2j3CRN3) on Twitter for their awesome fan art! These people are amazing and deserve ALL the love and follows. Shout-out to Aspen and Sage for the art they've drawn for me as well; y'all are all some seriously talented people. I'm beside myself with the feels when you decide to spend time drawing for my story, so THANK YOU. It really means the world to me. <3
> 
> For those wondering, yes, the magical marble unicorn ice cream is real and it's actually sold at a store in my area. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds fun and ridiculous enough that Callie would probably try it out. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)


	15. Two Years Ago

It all began when she purchased a raffle ticket.

Lady didn’t have high hopes that she’d win the two coveted VIP backstage passes for a meet-and-greet with _the_ Squid Sisters—given the amount of entries, the likeliness was about slim to none—but there was no harm in giving it a try anyway. She took a chance and stepped out of her comfort zone, filling out some basic contact information on a sheet in the unlikely event she won.

She wasn’t alone in this endeavour. Bruce had chosen to accompany her without being invited after overhearing her discussion about the raffle with rvMatt1.

“Bruce?” Mar echoes. The name is unfamiliar to her. She frowns and tilts her head slightly.

“Sergeant.” Lady sighs. She raises a hand to calm her teammate as she can see Mar’s shoulders bristle at the mention of his name.

“How do you know him?” Mar asks immediately. It almost sounds more like a demand.

“We were classmates in high school.” Lady slumps back in her chair. “He’s part of this too.”

“I figured he knew you…” Mar mutters to herself. Lady chooses to ignore it.

She continues.

Bruce’s company that day aside, nobody knew that Lady had decided to buy a ticket. Most of her classmates had refrained from participating because they thought the system was rigged; that the winner was preordained at the offset. The absurdly wealthy and influential business CEOs always found a way to get what they wanted after all. rvMatt1 was not one of the naysayers in class, but she had opted out of the contest and bought herself a front row seat to the concert instead. It was smart and Lady couldn’t help but feel a little envious. She couldn’t afford such a luxury; she was only making small dividends on turf wars at the time and had to save up for basic necessities.

Time passed without much fanfare. She attended school during the morning, dabbled in turf wars in the afternoon with friends, and spent the evening with her mother. There was little variation in her schedule with the exception of spending every other Friday at her cousin Octolad’s house.

“I loved going over to his house. They were one of those families that everyone else aspired to have for themselves, you know? The caring parents, the cheeky sons, the beautiful property that sprawled over twenty acres across the countryside; they had it all. Step into their house and it wouldn’t take ten seconds for my aunt Sammy to offer you a freshly baked pie or for uncle Samwell to—” Her breath catches in her throat, “… to teach you something cool about machines. Anyway, you were asking about Octolad.”

Mar doesn’t comment on the quick change of subject, thank goodness. Lady can tell she noticed by how she suddenly snapped her head to attention instead of gazing absentmindedly at her magical marble unicorn. She must be enjoying the ice cream as she’s already consumed most of it. Lady was taking her time with her coffee, pausing in telling her story for brief scoop breaks as she contemplated what she’d say next. She feels uncomfortable reliving the tale she had buried down deep for the past two years, but something compelled her to share with Mar. She barely knew the black-haired Inkling—a few days was hardly enough time to be considered friends, let alone someone close enough to pour her heart out to—but perhaps it was the ‘stranger’ quality of her teammate that made it easier to talk to her about it. Mar does seem less anxious now than from when they first sat down at least. That’s a relief. 

“We were best friends once. He’s my cousin by blood but I considered him more akin to a brother, we were that close. Wherever I’d go, he was bound to show up before long.” Lady chuckles to herself as she shakes her head. “Whatever I found cool he immediately found cool as well. The younger sibling effect, you know? He always had to do what I was doing or else he’d throw a fit.”

“Tina was much the same way.” Mar admits with a smile. “Though she didn’t follow me around quite as willingly at first; I’d always drag her into some crazy scheme of mine so that it meant we’d spend more time together.”

“Really? I would have thought…”

“That Tina was older? No, though I can see where people get that impression. She carries herself in a way that exudes maturity beyond her years.” Mar sighs, but it’s not one of resignation; Lady can tell it’s one of _admiration_. The way she sounds when she talks about her cousin, it’s clear she cares about the white-haired Inkling a great deal. Lady feels the unsettling gnawing sensation of jealousy in the depths of her gut. While she’s always prided herself in being self-sufficient, able to provide for herself and live life the way she wants to, it’s in rare moments like these that she truly feels alone. She doesn’t have a ‘Mar’ or ‘Tina’ in her life. She had that feeling of wholeness with Octolad once, but—

“I can see that.” Lady agrees, dismissing the troublesome thoughts from her head. No need to dwell on it now until she had to bring it up. “She seems to be a serious person from what I’ve seen, though not against having a good time if the people around her are rallying.” Lady recalls the smile on Tina’s face as Mar and Octolad danced in their squid forms prior to the turf war on Moray Towers.

Mar nods; Lady’s assessment of her cousin was fairly accurate. Tina wasn’t the only person on their team that she would describe in that way, but she wasn’t about to point out the similarities to Lady. There were more pressing concerns.

“So you and Octolad were close once…” Mar says slowly, reining the discussion back in to the topic at hand. She sounds both sad and uncomfortable about the revelation, likely considering her relationship with her cousin while Lady talked. It was difficult not to compare, though as far as Lady knows her teammates have never had a falling out that crippled their friendship beyond repair. Lady is quite self-aware that she’s a walking cautionary tale to the Inkling she’s talking to. It’s _unfortunate_ and hurts to consider, but it is what it is.

“Yes. Octolad is a great squid, despite how abrasive he can be at times. I actually entered the raffle because I wanted to surprise him with something special. Can you imagine getting to meet the Squid Sisters in person? It was every squid kid’s dream! My… _cuz cuz_ ,” Lady blanches at the nickname, “and I were no exception; we were huge fans of Callie and Marie. I wanted to get Octolad something cooler than a cd or a poster; I wanted to give him an experience. And then it happened.”

“You met with the Squid Sisters?” Mar rests her elbows on the table, leaning in closer as she listens attentively to every word. Lady’s not used to a person being so singularly focused on her; it makes her a little self-conscious. Mar sounds a little excited and genuinely curious. She’s completely enraptured by the tale Lady is telling.

Lady pauses, taking that moment to eat the rest of her ice cream. When she’s done consuming the coffee—she’ll definitely be back here in a couple weeks for more—she sits up and crosses her arms almost as a subconscious protective measure. She takes in a deep breath.

“A week before the final exams in my senior year of high school, I got two phone calls within an hour of each other. The first was a representative congratulating me on being the winner of two much sought-after VIP backstage passes to what I would later learn to be the Squid Sisters’ last live performance. I was _ecstatic_. I couldn’t wait to tell Octolad! I may have pulled him out of class for a minute to share the good news. He couldn’t believe it; we were both absolutely beside ourselves. I told him I’d show him the passes after school as the guy on the phone mentioned that they’d already been priority shipped to my apartment. The second phone call, um…”

Lady grips her arms tightly and looks like she’s attempting to hug herself. Is she… shaking?

“The second call was my mother informing me that there had been an accident.” She looks stricken. “My uncle worked for the Matticus Construction Corporation, or MCC for short. He was the main safety inspector for the company and he was always the first guy they’d send out to the sites to ensure that everything was up to code. If something was out of place or deemed unsafe, he could halt construction until the issue had been rectified. He was proud of his job; he loved it. Machines were his hobby, but people were his passion. He’d do anything to ensure his friends and family were safe.” She swallows thickly. “ _Anything_.”

Her eyes fill with tears but she doesn’t stop. Lady takes off the purple-tinted beret on her head and runs her fingers along the rim. She’s not looking at Mar anymore; her sight has tunnel-visioned on the strange emblem of a fish skeleton attached to her hat.

“So when he realized that the wiring of the suspended platform on the tower was much weaker than industry standard around the same time one of the construction workers was walking underneath it, well.” She looks up at Mar with a bleary, soul-crushing smile. “He didn’t even hesitate.”

“Oh.” Mar breathes. The look of utter devastation on Lady’s face haunts her. She looks so defeated, so _done_ with everything, yet she still tries to put on a brave front. It’s as admirable that she doesn’t give up as it is heart-breaking that she looks ashamed to be expressing any vulnerability at all. Mar can relate to the latter far more than she cares to admit. “I’m so sorry.”

“I think he knew… that his time was near.” Lady says softly. She lifts up the beret with both hands and gives it a tender tap with her forehead before she places it back on her head where it belongs. “The day before it happened, he sat me down in the garage for a talk…”

*~~~*

_He pats down on the worn-out leather cushion of the couch next to him._

_“Get over here kiddo, I want to ask you something.” Lady looks up from her book, eyeing her uncle with interest. Ask her something? Her uncle wasn’t usually the prying sort, respectful of her space and privacy. He always allowed her to hang out in the garage with no questions asked; he’d even let her help him fix up cars if she were in the mood. He likely knew that she was primarily holing up in there to hide away from her obnoxious cousins—Octolad and his younger brother Hayden were quite a handful together—but the truth of the matter was that she also quite enjoyed her uncle’s company. He was the father figure she never had growing up. He cared about her hobbies and helped her indulge in them; fostering a love for reading and machinery in a way that only he could provide._

_She gently creases the corner of a page—she feels it blasphemous to ruin the paper, but she lacks a bookmark at present—and sets her book down on the work bench. She hops off the stool she’s sitting on and makes her way over, plopping down on the leather couch with a satisfying_ swoosh _noise as air escapes the cushion. Lady stares up at uncle Samwell expectantly._

 _“Listen.” He rests his hand on her knee and gives it a soft squeeze. “I want to thank you for taking such good care of Salmonford. He’s always been a shy lad and sometimes has trouble expressing himself, but thanks to you he’s more lively and confident than ever. It used to be impossible to get him to say a word at the dinner table, and now it’s impossible to get him to_ stop _talking.” Samwell laughs. “He’s always talking about the random adventures you two get up to; the mall trips, the hikes around the park, and the copious amounts of turf war you both apparently partake in.” He gives her a knowing look. “He mentioned that you wanted to apply for the upcoming summer League season.”_

_“Uh, I do…” Lady admits sheepishly. “But I don’t know if I’m good enough. I haven’t even played a ranked match yet to see where I fall on the skill spectrum.”_

_“You can do anything you put your mind to.” He ruffles her hair affectionately. She laughs and bats his hand away, trying to regain some semblance of normalcy on her head. “And if you’re anything like I expect, you’re going to do just fine. You’re a chip off the ol’ block, as they say.” He winks. “Back in my day…”_

_Lady groans pre-emptively._

_“How cruel!” Samwell teases, feigning despair by clutching over his heart with a hand. He loved to start every story with ‘back in my day’; it always elicited strong reactions from the kids—and his wife. He hums. “And here I thought I had found the perfect candidate to inherit my secret weapon from those days, whatever am I to do…”_

_“Secret weapon?” She echoes. Her eyes sparkle with childlike wonder. She still hasn’t lost her sense of discovery despite aging into her later teens. “What is it?”_

_“Close your eyes.” He tells her. Knowing that he would unveil this ‘secret weapon’ sooner if she did, she complies without delay. “No peeking.”_

_“All right, all right…” She grumbles. She wasn’t going to peek, she wasn’t_ that _juvenile. Not like Octolad. He always cheated at hide-and-seek. She feels a gentle weight placed upon her head and furrows her brow in confusion._

_“Okay, open them.”_

_Lady opens her eyes and doesn’t see anything different at first. Her uncle is absolutely gleaming with pride as he looks back at her, mouth transfixed in a delighted smile. She reaches her hand up and brushes against the soft foreign fabric perched atop her head. She slowly lifts the hat off her head to get her first true look at it._

_Oh cod, that is one ugly hat. Did he honestly expect her to wear this? Not wanting to hurt her uncle’s feelings she immediately hides her disdain by flashing a grin and going in for a hug. Why couldn’t it have been something cool like an actual weapon?_

_“You’ll be every bit the commander I was out on the battlefield when you wear that beret.” He informs her sagely, accepting her hug with a strong embrace. “It gave me confidence unlike anything I have ever felt before. With it I felt like I could achieve anything. I became the tactician for my team and… well, the results don’t lie, do they?” He gestures up to a trophy collection he proudly displays on the mantle above the work bench. Tons of medals and ribbons adorn the wall around them; every one of them boasting the name of Samwell Wade. Though he won in each of the major events, he was an aficionado of tower control in his youth._

_“You won every one of those while wearing this hat?” Lady asks, sounding more interested than before. It was still an absolute travesty against fashion, but the beret carried with it a legacy she could respect._

_“Mhmm.” He nods, pulling away from the hug. He gazes at her with soulful blue eyes. “And I want you to have it.”_

_“But it’s yours…” Lady mumbles, staring down at the purple-tinted beret again. “I can’t accept this, knowing how important it is to you. And Octolad—”_

_“—would agree that it belongs to you.” Samwell interrupts her. “Salmonford is a bright kid with an even brighter future, but he needs your guidance to get there. He’s a sensitive boy; he doesn’t have the faith in himself or strength of heart to see his untapped potential yet. But with you, he starts to see things differently. He starts to believe in himself. He wants to reach out and express himself. And as his father that means_ everything _to me.”_

_He gently lifts the beret from her lap to once again place it atop her head. The affection pouring out of his eyes and words stirs feelings of acceptance and love deep in her heart in a way she would never forget._

_“I want you to promise me something.” He pauses to contemplate what he wants to say. “Actually, a few things.”_

_“What?” Lady asks, refocusing her attention on him. She mindlessly plays with the hem of her sweater while he talks._

_“I want you to sign up for League. I know you’ve been hemming and hawing about it, but get out there and find out who you really are. Wear the beret when you do; I know that my success with it will rub off on you.” He gives her a cheeky wink._

_“Sure.” She rolls her eyes. He won those trophies by his own merit, not because of some silly hat. Still, if it made him happy, she would wear it when she tried out for League._

_“Secondly, I’ve heard that you have some potential suitors waiting in the wings.”_

_“Wha—” She splutters out in disbelief. What the heck was Octolad telling him about her? He playfully nudges her side at her reaction._

_“Take my advice and give someone a chance; you never know what might happen. Sammy gave me a chance when I was but a meek freckled nerd in high school and look how it all turned out.”_

_“Doesn’t mean that it’ll turn out well for everyone though.” Lady replies with a frown. Samwell gives her a knowing look; he knows she’s referring to her parents with that statement._

_“That’s fair. But life is about living_ _and learning from both the positive and the negative experiences. Light can be found even in the darkest of places if you allow yourself  the chance to look for it. Don’t be afraid to discover what’s out there for you because of what happened before. Do you understand what I’m saying?”_

_“I guess.” She says noncommittally. She gets where he’s coming from, but she doesn’t see how opening up to someone like Bruce was going to enrich her life for the better. He was a nuisance at his best and a tyrant at his worst. She knew better than to get into a relationship with someone like that. He observes the uncertainty flicker across her face but decides to let it be._

_“The last one is the most important.” Samwell reaches over and scoops up one of her hands with his own. He bows his head a little, much to Lady’s surprise. This last request must really mean a lot to him. “Promise me you will continue to look after Salmonford. Be the person he already looks up to; be his champion during the times he can’t protect himself._ Please _.”_

_The sincerity of his request and the pleading tone of his voice almost overwhelm her with the weight behind his words. Why would he ask something like that of her? Her cousin already had two doting parents and a brother that looked up to him, why would Octolad need protecting when he already lived in such a safe and stable home? She opens her mouth to voice her thoughts out loud but find the words get lodged in her throat. She can’t bring herself to say these things, not when her uncle is staring at her with such a desperate and imploring look in his eyes._

_“I promise.” She whispers. She doesn’t know what she signed up for with that promise; a promise that will continue to haunt her for years to come. Uncle Samwell gives her a grateful smile._

_“Thanks kiddo. I love you.”_

_“Love you too.” She replies back._

_Her mother calls her the next day._

_*~~~*_

“I tried my best, but I failed them both. Uncle Samwell would be so disappointed in me.” Lady buries her face in her hands; she’s too ashamed to look at Mar anymore. Her palms are wet from rubbing them against the salty tears springing from her eyes. She’s such an idiot; how could she have let this happen? Maybe she should cut her losses and run while she still has the chance.

She feels a pressure around her shoulders and tenses up instinctively at the contact. Usually when someone touches her, it’s not for a good reason—she feels a gentle reassuring squeeze. Oh. Is Mar trying to comfort her? She’s not deserving of this girl’s sympathy, she really isn’t. Still, she doesn’t pull away.

“I don’t know what happened with Octolad, but I believe your uncle would still be proud of you, Lady.” Mar speaks softly. “You are strong and a commander on the battlefield just like he said you’d be.”

“Hardly. I’m just playing pretend at this point; you and Tina are already carrying this team as it is. I am no leader and I’m a terrible cousin.” Lady laughs bitterly. She wipes the tears from her eyes. “And if you knew how I treated Octolad after his father passed away, you’d realize that too.”

_*~~~*_

Life was never the same after Samwell Wade passed away. Octolad fell into a deep depression and LadyHood wasn’t faring much better. Remembering the promise she made to her uncle, she vowed to uphold to his wishes the best she could and kept an eye out on her cousin while he gradually isolated himself from everyone else. Octolad blamed his father’s death on the Matticus family, given that they founded the MCC and were personally responsible for the construction of the tower. rvMatt1, his girlfriend at the time, tried to support him and tolerate the verbal abuse as he lashed out against her family, but eventually he took it a step too far.

Lady was rounding the corner into the cafeteria when she heard two angry voices whispering in a cubbyhole near the band room. She pauses, recognizing the voices to be that of her cousin and best friend.

“You’re not being fair, Salmonford.” rvMatt1 sounds hurt. “Our fathers worked together for over twenty years and nothing happened before. My father considered yours to be one of his closest friends. Nobody’s at fault for what happened; it was a freak accident.”

“Your father is.” Octolad growls, his body seething with rage. “He called Dad on his day off to check out the site. If my dad never received that phone call, he’d still be here with us today!”

“Salmonford…” rvMatt1 tentatively reaches out to put a supportive hand on his shoulder. Octolad shoves her back.

“Mattie, don’t.” He glowers at her. “Don’t touch me. You’re one of _them_.”

“What do you mean, ‘ _one of them_ ’?” She crosses her arms, hiding her upset by taking up a defensive stance instead.

“You’re a smart girl, Rachel Veronica Matticus. _Figure it out_.”

“I can’t believe you, I just…” Her voice chokes on a sob. “I can’t believe you’d peg this on me and my family. We did nothing wrong.”

“Your family was responsible for ordering the wires to that platform, and you have the audacity to tell _me_ that they’ve done nothing wrong?” Octolad spits on the floor between them. Lady wants to intervene, but what could she really do here? This conversation was damaging enough as it is, and she really didn’t want to make it any worse. The words and courage failed to come to her, so she shamefully pressed up against the wall and watched as her best friend and cousin’s relationship fell apart.

“What do you want me to say, Salmonford? The company my father ordered the steel wires from sent the wrong shipment out and the construction workers strung it up to the tower just before your father came to inspect it. We weren’t even there. I’m _truly_ sorry for what happened, but I’m not going to stand here and listen to you rip into my family. Not anymore.” She clenches her hands into fists. “I’m done.”

A filter of emotions spread across Octolad’s face. At first it is anger, then it is shock, but eventually it settles into a look of profound disbelief.

“Are you breaking up with me?” His voice is barely above a whisper.

“You’re a smart boy, Salmonford Wade. _Figure it out_.” Mattie spins on her heels and stomps out of the cubbyhole and down the hall, thankfully in the opposite direction from where Lady was hiding. Lady watches as her cousin’s composure withers and he dissolves into tears, punching the wall in frustration as he cries.

That day didn’t get any better for Octolad. When Lady met up with him to take the bus home together after school, she found him sporting a fresh black-and-blue bruise that had swollen his left eye shut. She stares at him in horror.

“What happened?” She frets immediately. “Let me get you an ice pack.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He pulls away from her investigation of his face. “Don’t bother. Let’s just go home.”

Lady’s wise enough not to argue, already seeing once for herself what the fruits of that labour would be. So she relents and agrees, silently escorting her cousin home and hoping for now that would be enough.

She finds out what happened the next day, overhearing a conversation that instantly made her blood boil. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Bruce Lagoon to boast about his various accomplishments to his thick-headed friends. He was far too arrogant and full of himself for that to be seen as unusual. She had the misfortune of being in his homeroom class before the start of first period and she also had the misfortune of being the current object of his affections. She figured that he would lose interest in her after the first month of rejections, but alas, fate would not be so kind. He persisted in asking her out for the entire school year. He once told her that she should be flattered, but she only offered a fake laugh and quickly took her leave of that particular conversation.

“Hey Lady.” He offers her a cocky wink and a broad smile when he sees her enter the room.

“…Hello, Bruce.” She says after a moment’s pause, sitting down in her assigned seat and praying he wouldn’t get up and walk over. No such luck. He settles down next to her and wraps his arm around her shoulders. She immediately shrugs him off.

“Aw, don’t be like that babe.” He says smoothly, brushing off his jacket.

“Not today, Bruce.” Lady sighs. She pulls out her science notes and pretends to study. It’s hard to absorb the material when she’s got a slick pink-haired guy breathing down her neck. “Please. I’m trying to study.”

She made one error in that moment—she tried to be polite. For Bruce, he saw that as an opening. He saw that as an opportunity to exploit her in any way he could to get her attention. He leans forward and shuts her notebook, giving her a brief glimpse of bloodied knuckles on his right hand. Was he playing for her sympathy? Against her better judgment, she decides to ask him what happened.

“I’m so glad you care.” He sounds beside himself, delighted at such a prospect. _Ugh_. “This little thing? I injured myself beating up a cocky little shit that thought to mouth off at me. The nerve of some people, am I right?”

She widens her eyes. That had to be a coincidence.

“Really though.” Lady agrees tentatively to stroke his ego. She knows how to play this game by now. “Who got on your bad side this time?”

“Some friggin green-haired twit named Salmonford. What a stupid name, huh.” He rolls his eyes. Lady takes a deep breath. She has to remain calm. He takes her silence as an invitation to continue. “I think that punk deserves to learn his place here at Brookfield, don’t you? Goddamn juniors think they own the school just because we’re about to graduate.”

“Shut up…” She whispers. He’s too busy spouting off his own monologue to hear her.

“You know what’s really precious? He tried to tell me to back off by giving me some stupid sob story about his dad dying. Who cares that daddy dearest died? _Boohoo_. The world’s a harsh place for the little fish in the sea, and it’s about time he learned that the Wades mean _nothing_ to anyone out there that matters—”

He’s silenced by a punch square in the jaw. The force behind it propels him backwards into an empty desk, smacking his head against the attached chair. He howls in frustration and stares up at her with a look of pure betrayal.

“Lady, what the hell?”

“How can you be so cruel?” She flies out of her chair and stands over him, her voice the angriest it’s ever been. Bruce’s friends get up from their chairs but hover in the back of the room, watching the scene unfold with interest. The teacher was absent as class had yet to start. “Have you no empathy? No compassion? There are people out there struggling to get by without you adding fuel to the fire. Where do you get off on bullying them?”

Bruce is quiet as he looks at her, seemingly processing her words, observing the fury coiling up in her like a serpent ready to strike. He meets her eyes and adopts a sly smile.

“Aww babe, don’t tell me you have a crush on Salmonford! He’s a pathetic excuse of an Inkling; he can’t protect you like I can.” He starts to push himself up off the floor but pauses as he gives her another once over. “Man, you’re hot when you’re feisty. How about a little kiss? I might just forgive you for your minor indiscretion.”

And to her disbelief, he winks at her and puckers his lips. Something inside her snaps in that moment; all she can see red.

“Salmonford is my cousin you stupid fuck!”

And all of the anger and anguish come out of her at once; she beats him senseless, screaming obscenities and taking pot shots at his face until their teacher rushes into the room to drag her off of him. None of her classmates stepped in to intervene; they simply watched with their mouths agape as the usually kind Lady attempted to murder Bruce Lagoon.

*~~~*

It comes out of her in a long-winded tangent. Now that she’s started Lady finds she can’t stop; the words spill out of her without reprieve. She tells Mar that the Lagoon family tried to get her expelled after that beat-down; that because of his mother holding sway as a member of the school board, the principal agrees to suspend her for the rest of the year. Despite missing the final exams her high honours status and otherwise unblemished record still allows her to graduate with the rest of the class. Bruce was _pissed_ about that. He’s been calling her ‘dropout’ ever since.

“What a jerk.” Mar sounds angry. “And when we saw him earlier he was purposefully antagonizing you with that poor girl. No wonder you told her he wasn’t worth her time.”

“I just hope she’s able to recover from her time spent with him. It’s not easy by any means.” Lady sighs. She’s settled down a little, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. She looks embarrassed to be caught out in such a display but she doesn’t shy away from the care Mar directs towards her. Pulling away from her one-armed hug over Lady’s shoulders, Mar has instead decided to pull over a chair and lightly take a hold of one of her hands. It’s a little weird, much more intimate than Lady’s used to, but it feels nice. She doesn’t push her away.

“It sounds like school was a rough time for both of you, but at least you got to go to the concert during the summer, right?”

Lady suspects that Mar already knows the answer to that. She sounds hopeful, like she’s looking for that tiny bit of light in the darkest of places, but it sounds like it’s entirely for her benefit.

“No. The long and short of it is that I showed Octolad the tickets a couple of weeks after I graduated and the next day they went missing from my apartment. He’s the only one that knew about them, so I asked him where they went and he feigned ignorance at first. Realizing that I wasn’t about to back down, he relented and told me that he sold them online for money. He didn’t tell me what for, only that he wanted it. I was _furious_ that he stole them and said things in the heat of the moment that I wish I could take back. He never forgave me and completely shut me out of his life.” Lady exhales a deep sigh.

“I later found out that the life insurance company refused to pay out upon my uncle’s death and found a legal loophole so that my aunt couldn’t take them to court. His funeral expenses were too much for either of our families to afford. I didn’t know that at the time, but Octolad stole the passes and sold them to the highest bidder to pay for the funeral and relieve some of the financial pressure off my aunt.” She frowns, staring at her empty ice cream bowl. How long has she been sitting here lamenting her life story? She’s uncomfortably aware that they’re sitting outside and that Mar’s cousin Tina could jog up to them at any moment. “I wish he had just told me the truth instead of going behind my back. I would have given him the passes without a second thought. All he had to do was ask.”

“I’m sorry.” Mar is very gentle with her, treating her much like a skittish cat ready to bolt. And in some regards, she probably looked that way. Her knee has been bouncing up and down with a nervous burst of energy ever since she started talking, and subconsciously she had been eyeballing potential escape routes around them the entire time. “Nothing can change what happened before, but that doesn’t mean that it has to last forever. I don’t know Octolad very well yet, but I see how he looks at you when he knows you’re not looking. He misses you too.”

“I’m not sure I believe that. He does nothing but avoid me that second you and Tina are out of earshot.” Lady sounds miserable. Now that she’s laid her story bare to the world, she does nothing to hide how dejected she feels.

“They say that time heals all wounds.” Mar says slowly, thinking. “And I’m hopeful—no, I have to believe that it’s possible for the both of us. You just need to give Octolad some time to come around. I have faith that he will, you’ll see.”

“For the both of us…” Lady echoes quietly. She looks at Mar and wishes she hadn’t; the disheveled face of her reflection greets her on Mar’s shades. She looks horrendous. “I have my fingers crossed for you, whatever your troubles are. I can tell that they’re hard to deal with,” understatement of the year, given how Mar reacted on Moray Towers, “but you have the strength and conviction to see it through. You also have a great support system in Tina; you’ll bounce back in good time.”

“That’s kind of you to say so. I don’t always feel like it’s possible for me… just when I think I’ve gotten better, something sets me back every time.” Mar admits. “I knew who I was before, you know? The person everyone expects me to be; that everyone wants me to be. I don’t know if I can be that person anymore.”

“Then don’t be.” Lady says confidently, regaining the strength in her voice. Mar whips her head around to stare at her with wide eyes. “Screw everyone else. Be who _you_ want to be; others have no say in who you are unless you give them that power. It’s up to you to decide for yourself how you’re going to live your life. Don’t listen to the naysayers or follow the opinions of others. The only person’s opinion that matters is your own.”

“And if my opinion happens to align with theirs?” Mar asks, raising her brow.

“Oh.” Lady coughs, feeling slightly awkward. She got a little passionate with her speech. “Well, as long as you have the overall say in it.”

“You’re very sweet.” Mar offers her a soft smile. “And very honest. You never mince words, do you?”

“I try not to if I can help it.” Lady shrugs. She blinks as she realizes something. “Uh, please don’t mention what I told you to Octolad. He doesn’t know that I overheard his breakup or that I took uncle Samwell’s ‘be his champion’ request a little too literally when my fists met Bruce’s face.”

“I feel like he’d appreciate that one actually, but I promise I won’t.” Mar leans in a little closer and Lady can see her golden eyes darting back and forth, searching for something on her face. What is she looking for? When she’s satisfied, she leans back, closes her eyes and nods. “I’ve come to a decision. You’re trustworthy enough.”

“O-okay.” Lady’s not sure why she feels nervous all of a sudden. The calmness that has settled itself around Mar’s person might have something to do with it.

“I wanted to tell you before, but I wasn’t sure I could. If you could believe it, I’m actually—”

“Hey Mar, hey Lady! Sorry for the delay, I got a little lost finding my way here.” Tina jogs up to their table, panting a little as she takes in small gulps of air. She must have given herself a solid workout; Lady can see her cheeks are flushed above the rim of the white face mask she wears. It’d probably be easier to breathe if she didn’t wear that face mask, but Lady wasn’t about to point that out. Mar shuts up immediately at her cousin’s arrival. Huh. Is it something she doesn’t want Tina to overhear? Tina eyes the two of them sitting on the same side of the table and raises a brow as she sees where their hands are. Mar is still holding Lady’s hand. “Erm. Am I interrupting something?”

Realizing what she’s referring to, Mar snatches her hand back and huffs from being caught. She pouts indignantly, adamantly claiming that there’s nothing going on. Tina’s gaze shifts over to Lady. Her eyes are _intense_. Cods, what did this look like to her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long delay on this one. I took some time off for the Christmas break and then fell ill for two weeks with the stupid flu that's been going around. All that time off made it hard to get back on the writing train, but here we are 6500 words later.
> 
> Happy New Years everybody! Any ambitious goals or new years resolutions that you've set out for yourself? Mine would preferably be to finish HFS this year. That might not sound like a lot, but there's a lot more cover with this story before we're through, sooooo buckle up people. It's going to be a ride. ;D
> 
> Thanks for reading. <3


	16. A Walk to Remember

Marie wasn’t sure what was going on when she met up with Callie and Lady at the ice cream parlour, but she knew that she probably interrupted something important by the skittish reactions she got from both of them. Callie looked like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar again—something that happened frequently when they were younger—and the guilt was written plainly across her face. What did she have to feel guilty about? Her cousin pouted and crossed her arms, reeling away from their teammate in record time.

Lady flinched when she made eye contact with her. She held the gaze though, not shying away as Callie had done upon her arrival. It was clear to Marie that the other Inkling felt exposed and uncomfortable under her scrutiny. As she stared, she noticed some key details about their teammate that she hadn’t seen as she jogged up to meet them on the patio. Lady’s eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, a stark contrast to the sharp and sometimes exasperated purple glower Marie had grown accustomed to over the last few days. Her shoulders, usually taut with tension, were slumped either in resignation or defeat, Marie couldn’t really tell. While they must have been hastily brushed away, there was still evidence of dried tear tracks on her cheeks. She looks absolutely exhausted.

What the heck happened in her absence?

Realizing that she’s glaring, Marie softens her gaze. She’s as impressed as she is surprised that Lady hasn’t averted her eyes despite being in such a vulnerable position. It also concerns her a little, to be honest. It almost feels like the slightly-skewed beret-wearing girl is challenging her somehow. Daring her to say something, perhaps? Marie’s not sure. She has always found their teammate a little hard to read.

Marie finally gives their teammate a much needed reprieve and focuses her attention elsewhere—on her cousin instead. She has a ton of questions, but the one she finds herself asking first is,

“How’s the ice cream here?”

Her company visibly relaxes at the deliberate deflection of her previous question. That’s good. She will have her answers eventually, but she knows better than to press them for information now. The time isn’t right for it. She suspects that Callie would be furious with her if she tried, and as for Lady? The natural fight or flight response would probably kick in given the Inkling’s current emotional state. Marie’s unfortunately familiar with the signs of grief from the last month spent living with Callie. Her cousin instinctually picked the self-preserving tactic of flight and holed up in her room, avoiding both the world and Marie too if she could help it. That’s not to say that Callie did not have a fighting spirit—goodness does she ever, and even in her night terrors she’s got a solid right hook—but Callie preferred to retreat if everything became too much for her. Marie could relate to that. She’d much rather hermit away than lash out at someone, even if they deserved it. Besides, it would look bad for their idol image to be caught out giving a verbal—or even physical—beat down because they let their emotions get the best of them.

Time passed by peacefully enough. Marie ordered a strangely-named ice cream at Callie’s suggestion and found the mixture of flavours pleasantly acceptable. Lady made the occasional small talk but mostly listened as Callie enthusiastically talked about tomorrow’s upcoming League match. It warmed Marie’s heart to see her cousin so animated; it was a breath of fresh air after the doldrums of the past several months. She lived for moments like this. To simply _be_ there with her cousin, smiling and laughing and talking about everything and nothing at all. Zero expectations, and zero commitments to projects or other people.

Cods, she has missed this. When she realized that Callie had disappeared, the pain she had felt, not to mention the fear and terror in her heart, had almost overwhelmed her. Her imagination had quickly construed the _worst_ scenarios possible to explain Callie’s absence; it only fed her anxiety further, driving her into a panicked frenzy as she tried to ignore the lingering fact that she didn’t even know if her cousin was still alive. That wasn’t even the worst of it. No, the worst part had been the ghost of her cousin being everywhere she looked, haunting the apartment with beaming smiles as she greeted Marie in the morning with breakfast; bobbing her head back and forth as she listened to the freshest beats with her goofily-oversized headphones in the studio in the afternoon; and winding down on the couch in the living room with a take-out dinner as she watched one of her favourite comedy sketches in the evening.

Marie had avoided Callie’s bedroom completely. She couldn’t bring herself to open the door. She came close once, hovering there with her hand wrapped tightly around the doorknob, but she couldn’t face what she would find waiting for her on the other side. Nothing but emptiness would greet her, she knew. Memories of the good old days would mock her within cutesy frames and she—she wasn’t prepared for that. She would never be. Loneliness stalked her ceaselessly at home until she couldn’t take it anymore and she left. She chose to live in their grandfather’s shanty shack on Tentakeel Outpost to get away. She was always aware of the irony that she chose to fight loneliness by isolating herself further, but at the very least she had refuge from the cruel machinations of her mind there.

And eventually, in some small way, she made a friend in Sebastian Waterford. She still feels guilty that she put his life on the line and wrapped him up in her family affairs. He doesn’t begrudge her for it, he’s reassured her of that several times by now, but still. If Captain Cuttlefish and Agent 3 weren’t out on their own secretive reconnaissance mission, Marie would have thrown caution to the wind and taken on the Octarian army by herself. Who knows how that would have turned out?

Marie tunes back in to her company’s conversation as Callie makes a pun that has Lady groaning. Poor squid, she had no idea who she was currently hanging out with. The two of them _loved_ puns and lived for the dismayed reactions they often received. Zaffre Swordfish actually amended their contract with a stipulation that he could drop them with zero repercussions if they ever told him terrible punny jokes again. He made for such an easy target that they couldn’t help themselves at first, but eventually they conceded as they didn’t want to lose him as a manager over it. He was efficient, intelligent, and always got the gigs they wanted. He gave them a chance when no one else would, and they were eternally grateful to him for it.

Another ten minutes or so pass before Lady stands up and bids them adieu, looking much more composed than before but still as exhausted. It’s only going on noon.

“Would you like some company for the commute home?” Callie asks immediately. Her tone is polite and cheerful, but Marie has a lifetime of experience in reading Callie’s tells; she can hear the undercurrent of worry in her voice. Marie straightens up at this and waits for Lady’s reaction. What is her cousin worried about?

“Oh, uh…” Lady looks surprised. She must have expected to just up and leave them at the parlour, which to be fair, Marie had thought the exact same thing. The purple-haired Inkling furrows her brow and seems to genuinely consider the offer as she rocks on the heels of her punk blacks. “I don’t live that far away, so I should—” She stops herself from whatever she’s about to say as she catches the disappointed look on ‘Mar’s face. “I… I guess I wouldn’t mind, if the two of you don’t have other things to do.”

“Our afternoon’s free.” Marie shrugs. It honestly wouldn’t pose much of an inconvenience for them regardless of where Lady lived; they hadn’t made any plans for the day after this. Callie hops out of her chair and clears their table of the empty disposal bowls and napkins resting there. Lady looks a little bemused at the whole affair. They weren’t pressuring her into this, were they? Marie’s seen Lady stand up for herself before, but that was with a bully trying to get a reaction out of her. Maybe she had a harder time saying no to her friends and acquaintances. Marie couldn’t blame her for that, at least not in this particular instance. It was very difficult to say no to Callie. She knew that from experience.

So it was that Marie found herself walking through the unfamiliar streets that made up the majority of The Reef, slightly trailing behind her cousin and teammate. Her position in the back had not been intentional at first, but with the busy sidewalks constantly forcing them to proceed single-file to squeeze by, she naturally just sort of took up residence there. She didn’t mind. It gave her the chance to observe her company and examine their surroundings without being interrupted. The Reef was definitely a newer residential district to the city of Inkopolis, at least when compared to Flounder Heights. Most of the neighbouring buildings and apartment complexes had a sleek modern design reminiscent to those built within the last ten years. With a few notable exceptions—Emerald’s Ice Cream Emporium had clearly been in the community for longer than the past decade, given the small town charm of its aesthetic—most of The Reef was a recent expansion to ease the burgeoning demands of overpopulation in the city. It was beautiful and oddly peaceful for being so busy at this time of day. Perhaps she had just grown too accustomed to the chaos of the Plaza and the Square, but to Marie this area was a welcome reprieve from the usual hustle and bustle of the downtown core.

Watching Callie and Lady walking ahead of her proved to be a more interesting endeavor than she had anticipated. It wasn’t so much what they were talking about—Lady had relegated herself to the role of tour guide, reciting random facts about the area and pointing out local attractions as they passed them—but what wasn’t being said that caught Marie’s attention. Callie had deliberately positioned herself closer to the curb, strangely insistent through her body language that Lady take the inside lane. Not only that, but every time they approached an intersection her cousin would immediately take the lead despite having no idea where they were actually going. Lady did seem a little uncomfortable crossing the street, to be fair, but Callie was being unusually chivalrous. Marie’s curiosity wanted answers, but she kept it contained beneath a neutral expression.

Marie soon learned that Lady’s definition of ‘not far’ did not match her own understanding of the term at all. She expected maybe a ten or fifteen minute walk from the parlour, but they were broaching the fifty minute mark by the time Lady announced they were almost there. She was either very accustomed to longer walks and therefore obtuse about how other people would perceive it, or she had been fetching for an excuse before so they wouldn’t feel committed to walk her home. She didn’t seem to like inconveniencing people—she apologized to them a few times along the way, despite their reassurances that they didn’t mind the exercise—so Marie suspected it was a little bit of both.

Another ten minutes or so pass before they reach their destination; a quaint apartment complex perched at the top of a hill just off of the main thoroughfare. A decorative community sign at the end of the road proudly proclaims this street as Eldaring Cresent. While it’s still very much public access, lacking a gate to herd away any random passersby that feels like wandering up there, it has a pleasant ‘private road’ feeling to it that the country girl in Marie finds enviable. It’s blissfully quiet here; an amazing feat considering that it’s not out on the fringes of society.

“We’re here.” Lady announces, gesturing to the apartment building. It’s neither big nor small, resting at a comfortable medium in build. Each of the units appears to have a balcony from what Marie can tell. It looks like a decent enough place to live. It lacks the razzle-dazzle of the downtown core but it’s not shabby by any means. _Just like our teammate_ , Marie thinks. It matched Lady’s reserved nature well. Lady stops at the start of the path that leads up to the apartment building. “Thanks for walking with me. I enjoyed the company.”

“Not a problem at all.” Callie responds instantly. She bounces up and down a little on the balls of her feet. She’s in a good mood. “It was fun to learn more about the area. I wanna go to the Shellendorf Institute when it opens.” She does? Marie’s surprised at that announcement. Callie’s never shown interest in learning history before, so she doubts a museum is up her cousin’s alley. “Playing a game of turf war on top of the displays sounds _awesome_.”

Oh. That made much more sense.

“It opens a few weeks from now. Maybe we can do a team-building exercise there if you’re both free.” Lady suggests with a smile. Apparently she shares the sentiment that inking a museum—for practice, of course!—could be fun. Marie couldn’t blame them. The idea appealed to her too. Lady puts her hands in the pockets of her jacket. She looks contemplative, like she’s not sure what else to say. Marie realizes what’s happening and gently tugs on Callie’s arm. The purple-haired Inkling wasn’t sure of the proper etiquette about whether to invite them in or not and didn’t want to risk offending them. While Marie was a little curious about what the interior looked like, Lady looked far too tired to be playing hostess right now. Was she not getting enough sleep? She did admit to being a night owl when they first met, but Marie couldn’t help but feel a little concerned.

“Sounds like a plan.” Marie agrees. “Educational and fun all at the same time, that’s a rare combination.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Callie says cheerfully. It appears that her cousin recognized the intent behind her tug. “We’re going to kick butt, I know it!”

“I hope so.” Lady chuckles at that. “We’ve practiced enough, so we should give them a challenge at least. Enjoy the rest of your day, you two.” She hesitates for a moment, briefly glancing in Marie’s direction before addressing Callie. “And thanks for listening to my ramblings, Mar.”

“Thank you for trusting me enough to share, Lady. It made a difference.” Callie’s calmed down now. She adopts a gentle smile as her free hand settles over her heart. “And you’re not alone in this, not anymore. You’ve got us now.” She links her other arm around Marie’s. “If anyone bothers you, we’ve got your back.”

Marie echoes the sentiment. She doesn’t know the specifics, but Callie’s words are earnest and sincere. That’s all she needs to know in this present moment to agree.

“I appreciate that.” Lady seems a little caught off-guard by the proclamation, like she’s embarrassed of the attention. She wears a flustered smile. It reminds Marie of the surprised reaction Lady gave when Callie offered her ice cream as an apology earlier this morning. What kind of life has she lived that she responds to kindness with such uncertainty? It’s saddening and once again reminds Marie just how lucky she is to have grown up with someone like Callie in her life. “And the same goes both ways. If either of you need any help with something…” Lady pats the dapple dualies strapped to her waist. She gives them both a serious look. “I’m there.”

“I’ll remember that.” Marie replies wryly. “Maybe you can save me the next time Mar has a hard time deciding which outfit she wants to buy at the mall. They all look the same to me but it still takes her _forever_ to pick one.”

“Hey! It’s important to look fresh.” Callie harrumphs and crosses her arms. Given that one of them is still linked with Marie’s, she causes the white-haired Inkling to stumble. Lady just watches their display and laughs.

“Whatever the emergency, I’m there.” She rolls her eyes in amusement. “I’m going to head in for a nap now. See you both tomorrow.” She gives a small wave of farewell and heads up the path towards the apartment complex. She stops at the entrance of the building to unlock it, waving again a little awkwardly as she realizes they’re still watching her. They respond in kind and turn to leave, heading back down the hill. They saw a sign for the sky train on the way here, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find their way back home.

When there was enough distance between them and the building, Marie decides to voice what’s on her mind.

“So… are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

To her surprise, Callie doesn’t dismiss her immediately or play ignorant like she normally would. Her cousin sighs.

“I’m worried.”

“I could tell.” Marie says, glancing in her direction. Callie does look like she’s mulling over something. “I figured something was up when you suggested we walk her home.”

“It’s just… I’m not sure, but I have a bad feeling.” Callie admits. “When you left to go on your jog and we were walking to the parlour, Lady had a close call with a car. We had the right of way, but...” She bites her lip. “The car ran through a red light. It would have hit Lady if I didn’t pull her back in time.”

That certainly explained a few things. Marie recalls the wariness Lady exuded any time they crossed the street and Callie’s suddenly protective nature towards their teammate. “And you’re not sure if it was an accident.”

“I don’t know.” Callie frowns. “But it didn’t feel right to leave her alone after that.”

“Understandable. I’d have done the same thing, had I known.” They pause in their stride to figure out where they’re going. There’s a sign that helpfully directs them towards the nearest train station. “So I’m guessing you didn’t just want to know where she lived because you were curious.”

“M-Marieeee~” Callie splutters, her eyes wide. “I—of course I was curious, weren’t you?” Her cousin gives her a discerning eye, challenging her to say otherwise.

“Sure, sure.” Marie lifts her hands, having been caught red-handed. “But I see that you had an ulterior motive.”

“It’s good to know… just in case.” In case of what, neither of them really knew.

They walk in silence for a while after that, just enjoying each other’s company as they make their way to the train station. Callie’s linked arms with her again, and the movement stirs Marie’s heart a little. They still had a long way to go in her recovery, but Marie can already tell that the past week has made a huge difference for Callie. Simple actions like linking arms together and taking the initiative in leading them—even if she can be terrible with directions—were signs that the Callie she knows and loves is still there. She’s coming out of her shell, slowly but surely.

And she still hasn’t taken the shades off her face.

“What are you thinking about?” Callie asks her, catching the wispy smile on her face. Marie didn’t even realize she was doing it.

“Just appreciating the moment.” Marie replies honestly. It’s not a detailed answer, but it’s enough. Callie hugs her arm a little in response.

“Well, you better hang onto that feeling.” Callie says. They’ve made it to the train station. They purchase their tickets from a collector’s booth and proceed to feed the tickets into a machine, granting them entry to the terminal above. Callie leads them towards a free bench off to the side so they can sit as they wait for the train. She folds her hands together on her lap and hums. “Because we’ve got work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everybody! Hope you're having a great day, however you choose to spend it.
> 
> I originally had this chapter titled as something else but it didn't really fit with what was going on here. I then considered making a 'A Thousand Miles' reference by calling it 'Making My Way Downtown' but unfortunately they're not in the downtown core either so that also wouldn't have made any sense LOL. Oh well. If a chapter in the future ever focuses heavily on that area, you know what I'm going to call it. :D
> 
> Thanks for reading. <3


	17. Spectator's Sport

The room is silent.

A tall Octoling boy of sixteen years sits alone in the guest room, his right leg bouncing up and down impatiently as he waits. There is an assortment of snacks on a table to his right, freshly prepared for the visitors still to come. It’s early, about seven in the morning from what the clock mounted to the wall tells him, but he feels like they’re going to be late today.

Marmaduke “Marny” Cresswell sighs as he watches the Inkopolis News Broadcast on the plasma television in front of him. Normally he’d sit at attention and listen enraptured as his sister and her girlfriend riffed off of each other to announce the morning news, but he wasn’t really feeling it today. He’s worried that he’s going to miss the first League match of the day and he promised someone he’d be there to cheer them on.

“You don’t have to…” Salmonford had said after their heavy splatling training session. It had not gone as well as either of them had hoped; Marny had no spatial awareness with a ranged weapon and too often jumped into the line of fire before the splatling had fully charged. The green-haired Inkling’s cheeks had flushed at Marny’s declaration that he’d be there in the crowds for their first official match. Salmonford scuffed one of his green sneakers against the asphalt on purpose and bit his lip as he turned away. He still snuck glances back at him though, when he thought he wasn’t looking. It was adorable.

“Of course I do.” Marny replied without missing a beat. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

He meant it too. That’s why he found his current predicament excruciatingly painful to sit through as the minutes ticked on by. He knew that Marina and Pearl would have to work—they did every morning at the same time every day—but the segment felt like it was dragging on longer than usual. He quickly hides his discontentment with a smile as an assistant comes in to check on how he’s doing and to see if he needs anything.

“Just my sis.” He sighs as she appears on-screen. She looks flabbergasted by something Pearl said. Her reaction is genuine, Marny can tell that from the surprise in her eyes, but he knows that she’s exaggerating her response to play it up in front of the cameras. He remembers when they were first hired for the job and Marina said something particularly uncouth at Pearl’s expense; he had scolded her for being unkind towards the short Inkling rapper after everything she’s done for them and called his sister ungrateful. Pearl had looked bemused by the whole thing and had to explain to him that the comments they made towards each other while on camera were entirely just for show; there was no ill-will between them at all.

That minor spat had taken place in this exact same room. The three of them often hung out here together while they waited to be called in for their next televised appearance.

“They’ll be done soon.” The assistant says sympathetically, eyeing the room to make sure everything is in order. Satisfied, she checks a box off the list on the clipboard she carries. “Today’s announcements are a little longer than usual because they’ve got to cover the start of the League season.”

“Oh?” That perks Marny’s interest immediately. He shifts his gaze over to the screen as a graphic of eight individual squid kids appear one by one. The photos are very official looking, as if they’ve been lifted straight from SplatNet. It takes a moment for Marny to realize that he recognizes one side of the roster; he’s sent scrambling for the remote to unmute the television as the visage of a grinning shade-wearing ‘Octolad’ appears on the display.

“—but we’ll see if their rivalry in turf war will help or hinder them here.” Marny grumbles as he tunes in mid-sentence. Who are they talking about? What else has he missed? Marina continues. “Any guesses on who’s going to take this one, Pearlie?”

“Team Cousins all the way!” Pearl exclaims with a cheer. Her chair swivels from the sudden jostling as she raises her hands in the air. With a dramatic sweep of her arms she pulls them down into vigorous fist pumps. “They’ve got a dualies pro on their team; how could they lose?”

“Both teams have a dualies main…” Marina points out, rolling her eyes. She looks like she’s about to say something else when Pearl pipes up again.

“Anyway, that’s all the time we got!” The rapper hops off her chair around the same time as Marina moves her turntable out of the way. Marny’s mood brightens immediately as the broadcast draws to a close. “Until next time…”

“Don’t get cooked; stay off the hook!” The pair is in sync with their movements as they pose for the camera, broad smiles on their faces. The screen cuts to black. Finally! Marny bounces off the sofa and straightens his lime easy-stripe shirt as he hears the tell-tale sign of their approach. He eyes the clock again. Fifteen minutes past the hour; as long as traffic isn’t too congested they should be able to make it in time. He sighs in relief. Though his heart still flutters apprehensively—he wouldn’t be calm until they had arrived and were properly situated—at least now he stood a chance of getting there at a reasonable time after all.

Pearl and Marina round the corner, talking animatedly about the broadcast. They seem excited about the prospect of watching the League match live too. When they catch sight of him standing there in the middle of the room, Marina flashes him a knowing smile while Pearl bursts out laughing.

“Told you he’d be raring to go!” She grins as she walks over to give him a playful punch on the arm. “I wrapped up the broadcast quick so we could get moving; didn’t want you cooped up here while the action’s happening out there, you know?”

“Thanks.” Marny replies, his heart swelling with appreciation. Pearl’s always been looking out for her Octarian roommates; he still can’t believe their luck that they happened to stumble across her path when they did. She changed their lives forever, and he would be eternally grateful to her for it. He sees Marina grab her navy-blue trench coat off the rack and inwardly groans when they make eye contact. Her expression conveys the message without her needing to say a single word: _Wear your jacket; it’s chilly out this morning_. While the weather gradually rolls into the summer season with unexpected grace, warming their beleaguered spirits after a particularly harsh winter, the mornings still proved to be a tad too chilly to expose any skin.

Marny complies with her unspoken request, donning the white inky rider over his shirt without complaint. He’s amused to see Pearl mimic his actions without being prompted; she zips up a white windbreaker and heads straight for the door.

“The feeling is contagious, I see.” Marina hums merrily, falling in line behind her girlfriend as Pearl leads them towards the parking garage. Marny keeps pace with his sister, amazed for the millionth time that a person so short could have such a commandingly long gait. When Pearl had somewhere she wanted to be, she meant business. Nothing could get in her way. He hears Marina chuckle as a camera operator presses up against the wall to let the rapper pass, giving a respectful—and clearly terrified—nod of acknowledgment in their direction when he realizes they’re staring at him. He sheepishly ducks away and out of sight the second they pass on by.

It’s a weird sensation, to have people feel nervous to be in their presence. Ever since their meteoric rise to stardom, not a day has gone by without a shy Inkling approaching them for an autograph while excitedly stuttering over their words. While it happened much more frequently to Pearl and Marina for obvious reasons, Marny has recently seen an increase of popularity himself. His association with Off the Hook aside, he’s become increasingly well known for his turf war exploits the past few months. Being one of the only Octolings to participate in the sport certainly had something to do with it, but he was starting to make a name for himself by his own merits.

It pleased him to be recognized by his Inkling compatriots; he felt accepted and like he belonged there. It had been a rough start trying to acclimatize to Inkopolis. The culture shock and lack of understanding almost led to more than one occasion of being arrested, but thankfully Pearl was there to bail them out. Who knew that you were only allowed to discharge your weapon in turf war sanctioned areas? With how everyone seemed to proudly carry their weapons in plain sight everywhere they went, neither Marina nor Marny saw anything wrong with firing off test rounds in the back yard. Their neighbours seemed to disagree with that train of thought though, for the police stepped in to intervene at least twice until they realized their apparent social faux pas.

They step into the parking garage and briskly walk up the slight incline until they come to a reserved spot occupied by a lone black motorcycle. There is a sidecar attached to it to accommodate for the extra company today.

“Alright nerds, hop on.” Pearl says cheekily, reaching for the helmets stowed in the sidecar and chucking them haphazardly in their direction. Marina catches hers with ease but Marny has to stumble forward to save his from smacking the ground. Pearl sticks her tongue out as she catches the movement; she low-balled him on purpose! Sneaky bugger.

“That’s my line.” Marina purrs, lightly grazing Pearl’s shoulder with the tips of her fingers. Pearl’s cheeks turn a shade darker as Marina sashays around her, emphasizing the sway of her hips as she bumps into Pearl’s side. Marny rolls his eyes and takes this opportunity to hop into the sidecar. His sister _loves_ to tease Pearl; she delights in making her flustered in a way no one else can. Marina slowly settles down on the motorcycle and ever so faintly strokes the back of the vinyl padded seat, eyes locked with Pearl’s all the while. The short Inkling swallows thickly at the gesture. “Come here, love. We don’t want to be late.”

“O-of course not.” Pearl huffs haughtily, boots clunking heavily against the asphalt as she stomps over to the motorcycle. She swings herself over the side like a seasoned veteran and secures the helmet to her head. She loosely rests her hands on the Octoling’s waist as Marina turns on the bike. It revs with a satisfying roar as Marina tests the accelerator.

“Gonna want to hold on tighter than that, dear.” Marina teases, just loud enough to be heard over the engine. Seeing the mischievous look in her eyes—and the tint of color spreading across her face at her own suggestion—Marny instinctively buckles up and straps himself down tight. He knows that look; Marina only gets that way when she’s feeling particularly devious. Poor Pearl doesn’t know what she’s in for.

“I know what I’m doi— _whoa!_ ” Pearl gasps as the tires screech with a deafening echo and they shoot out of their space with terrifying speed. The effect is instantaneous; Pearl clutches onto Marina like she’s hanging on for dear life—which to be fair, she totally is. Marny thanks the heavens for both the sidecar and the seatbelt that locks him in place. His heart is still pounding hard against his rib cage as Marina swerves out of the parking garage and into traffic with reckless abandon, but he feels safer with that extra layer of security that the other two don’t possess.

Marny chances a glance at his sister as she weaves between lanes with an ease that one only acquires with experience. Her eyes are lit up with unbridled joy and satisfaction as she guns it and skips having to stop at the next intersection. Her cheeks are burning, but Marny’s not sure if it’s from the wind whipping at her face or the fact that Pearl is pressed up against her back. _She does this all the time_ , Marny realizes. Somehow he’s not surprised. She’s always loved to get the adrenaline pumping through her veins; it’s why she loves performing on stage with Pearl as much as she does. Marny’s never thought about what she does to get that feeling in her downtime before. Guess he knows the answer to that one now.

“ _Marina!_ ” Pearl shouts over the howling winds and the growling of the engine.

“Yes, dear?” Marina’s tone is somehow wispy and light and still audible over the noise.

“It-It’s not a race, you know!” Pearl locks eyes with Marny in the sidecar. “And you’re scaring your little bro.”

“Am I now?” Marina casts a brief amused glance in Marny’s direction. He furrows his brows and shakes his head in disagreement. Him, scared? Hardly. While he had been uncomfortable about their blistering pace at first, he trusted that Marina would keep them safe. She’s always been his protective older sister, after all. She could have saved herself and left him to rot in the Academy after Octavio disappeared and riots broke out throughout Cephalon, but she didn’t. She risked her life and fought through the crowds to save him from his own personal hell. She smiles. “He seems fine to me, Pearlie.”

“O-oh.” Pearl replies, glaring at him for his perceived betrayal. Her voice quivers a little bit. “My mistake.”

 _Sorry_ , Marny mouths to her sheepishly. He does feel the tiniest bit guilty that he’s prolonging her obvious suffering, but he’s also fascinated in this slight shift of her demeanor. For as long as they’ve known her, Pearl’s always been overflowing with confidence, taking charge without hesitation and carving a path forward for all of them. Nothing seemed to faze her. She never got nervous to perform in front of a large crowd and she never took any of the awful things some people would say about her to heart. Marny wished he had her resilience; he wished he had the same peace of mind. He was always worried about what others would think of him and what they would say. To see her even the slightest bit off-kilter now…

It’s a bit of an eye-opener, to be honest. Pearl’s always brought the spunk and the fire, but this is the first time he’s caught a glimpse of the person behind the smoke and mirrors. She’s completely terrified, but she’s trying to hide it behind stoicism. Is she always like that? Great, now he feels bad.

“S-sis…” Marny hopes the stuttering he tacks on doesn’t sound too forced, “I-I wouldn’t mind if we slowed down… just a bit.”

Pearl widens her eyes at this for the briefest of moments—he swears she mouths back a ‘thank you’—before she quickly schools her expression and the trademark smug smirk comes out instead.

“See? Told you so.” The short Inkling’s vice grip around Marina’s waist slackens as the motorcycle finally slows down into a more relaxed pace. It’s a miracle they weren’t pulled over for speeding. “I told ya once and I’ll tell you again; I’ll always look out for your little bro.”

“I know.” Marina hums appreciatively. A red light finally forces them to stop. Looking around the neighbourhood and catching sight of a quaint little cake shop tucked away in the corner—the signage is brand new, proudly advertising itself as Corvus Confectionaries—Marny sighs in relief. They’re only a block away from his workplace, which means they’re about four blocks off from reaching the main bridge that would serve as the hub for the start of the League season. Traffic’s definitely worse than usual, but there’s an infectious buzz of excitement in the air that replaces the road rage that would normally accompany a gridlock like this. Marina lets go of the handlebars and holds the arms wrapped around her with a content smile on her face. “That brings me great comfort, thank you.”

Pearl squeezes her a little tighter in response.

Before the light turns green, Marny catches the eye of a cute teal-haired Inkling girl sitting out on the patio eating a small piece of red velvet cake. It looks decadent. She’s mid-bite when her magenta eyes meet his silver, and something odd happens when they do. She pulls her hickory cap down to cover her eyes and goes from leisurely consuming the cake to almost inhaling it whole. She’s out of her chair and disappearing into the crowd within seconds. Marny blinks. What was that about? Did he see something he wasn’t supposed to?

The engine revs and they’re moving again. It’s about another ten minutes of crawling forward, stopping at each intersection, and keeping an eye out for a possible parking spot before they arrive.

Pearl’s the first off the bike, feeding coins into the meter so they don’t get issued a parking ticket. It’s happened to them several times—it’s easy to forget, to be fair—so she’s cutting the problem off at the pass. Marina slides off the vinyl seat and offers her hand to help Marny out of the sidecar. He doesn’t need the help but he takes it anyway. Marina leans forward to whisper in his ear as he stands up.

“You’re very sweet.” She says with a smile. She tilts her head and nods her head in Pearl’s direction. The rapper is swearing that the meter ate one of her quarters and gives it a solid kick at its base.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Marny stuffs his hands in his pockets and rolls back and forth on his heels. He’s lying and he’s deliberately not hiding it, earning a chuckle from his sister.

“Sure.” She nudges him with her elbow before something catches her attention and her expression changes from devious to delight. “Oh! I see Salmonford over there. You should go say hi.”

“You’re not coming with me?” Marny asks, raising his brow.

“Nah, he’s probably got the pre-game jitters.” Pearl joins in the conversation, having finished paying for two hours on the meter. “Seeing us won’t help him with that, trust me.”

“Oh.” He considers it for a moment. That made sense. “Alright, I will.”

“We’ll be over by the café near the purple team’s spawn pad.” Marina tells him, helpfully supplying him with directions on where to go afterwards. “Go have some fun.”

“You too.” He grins. Pearl extends a fist out that he happily reciprocates with his own to bump with before jogging over in the direction Marina last saw Salmonford. As he approaches, he realizes that the cool squid is not alone.

“How’d you make _that_ happen?” It’s LadyHood. The beret-wearing Inkling is pacing back and forth in front of Salmonford. She looks more than a little agitated, which Marny finds disheartening. Salmonford for his part looks very amused, inspecting his heavy splatling thoroughly and seemingly ignoring the exasperation in his cousin’s tone.

“You’ll have to be more specific.” Salmonford says. He sounds so elated that Marny can _hear_ the smile in his voice. It’s clear he knows exactly what LadyHood is talking about and is being obtuse on purpose. It’s such a family thing to do to her; Marny and Marina do that with each other all the time.

“The broadcast this morning, that HAD to be your doing.” Lady crosses her arms. She doesn’t look impressed.

“What about the broadcast this morning?” Salmonford plays along. His voice is singsong in cadence at this point.

“ _Team Cousins. Really._ ” She’s done with beating around the bush. Marny frowns, confused. She doesn’t like the name? He could have sworn that Salmonford told him otherwise. “Do I even want to know how you managed that?”

Salmonford merely shrugs in response. “I dunno. Maybe you’re playing reverse psychology with me right now and _you’re_ actually the one that told them. I mean, I’m not the only one that’s met them recently.”

Lady stiffens. She stops pacing and narrows her eyes as she looks at him.

“What.”

“Not going to deny that one? Huh. I thought you would.” Salmonford finishes inspecting the barrels of his splatling and bears a shit-eating grin as he meets her gaze. “Wouldn’t have mattered though; I know the truth. You’ve never been good at hiding stuff from me.”

Apparently that was the wrong thing for him to say, because there’s a flash of fury in her eyes that has even Marny cowing back a little. He hasn’t been seen yet and given the nature of their conversation he’s starting to have second thoughts. Salmonford doesn’t bat an eye. There’s a moment of heated silence between them, and then—

“I think I saw Mar and Tina up by the spawn pad. Make sure you’re up there by eight.” There’s a measured calmness to her voice that makes Marny uncomfortable. She spins around and excuses herself. The moment she’s out of sight, Salmonford visibly deflates with slumped shoulders. Marny decides to take this chance to make his presence known.

“Hey Salmonford!” He approaches with a smile, waving as the Inkling quickly turns his head in surprise.

“H-hey Marny.” Salmonford clears his throat. “Did you... hear that?”

“I did.” Marny glances in the direction Lady’s disappeared off to. He doesn’t see any reason to lie. “I think you made her mad.”

It’s hard to see Salmonford’s clear blue eyes from behind the shades on his face, but the bite of his lip says enough.

“You’re right.”

Marny cocks his head to the side, puzzled. A stray black tentacle with a frosted pink tip falls in front of his face but he doesn’t brush it aside.

“That was on purpose?”

“Yeah.” Salmonford mumbles. Marny blinks. Once. Twice.

“Why?” He’s not going to judge. He just wants to understand.

“Honestly?” Salmonford exhales a bitter laugh. “Because she plays a lot better when she’s mad at me. You’ve seen her stats on turf war.”

“Hmm.” Marny considers this. Salmonford hoists up his heavy splatling and slowly starts walking in the direction of the spawn pad. He’s stalling on purpose. Marny pulls out his phone to check the time—it’s only 7:47AM. Wow, that’s a lot earlier than he was expecting. Marina and her driving skills… “I don’t think that you’re being fair. To yourself or to LadyHood.”

Salmonford is silent but he side-eyes his company with a look that’s asking him to explain.

“You discredit her to assume she has to be angry to perform well. You told me that practice was amazing yesterday; was she mad at someone then?”

“I…” He pauses for a moment to think about it. “I’m not sure.”

“But she still performed well?”

“I see where you’re going with this.” Salmonford sighs. “I’m just guaranteeing—”

“You’re guaranteeing pain for you both.” Marny interrupts. “You told me that you two used to be best friends, right? That your relationship with her was similar to my own with Marina. I don’t know what happened between you, but this,” he circles with his index finger around Salmonford’s face, “isn’t going to fix it. You’re not just hurting her by driving this wedge further between you; you’re hurting yourself too.”

“What do you propose I do about it?” Salmonford growls. There’s an undercurrent of frustration in his voice. “And why do you even care?”

“Because I care about you, I thought I made that obvious.” Marny says simply. Salmonford can’t meet his eyes but his face has turned scarlet red from how easy it is for Marny to admit out loud. “As for what you should do, have you tried to apologize?”

“She’ll shoot it down.” He speaks with complete certainty on the matter. “Trust me on that one.”

“She might.” Marny agrees, nodding his head. “But it’s still important to try. You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.”

“Where’d you get that one from, a billboard?” The green-haired Inkling exhales the smallest puff of laughter. He sounds incredulous.

“Does it matter?” Marny replies dismissively. “Where I got it from doesn’t make it any less true. And I got it from ‘Good Morning Inkopolis’, for your information.”

“That sitcom Callie stars in? I should have known; you watch all the shows she’s in.” Salmonford can’t help himself it seems; a small smile forms on his face. “I, uh, I can see what you’re trying to do. I can’t say I’m happy to have this conversation before my big League debut,” he takes a deep breath—ah, so he _is_ nervous, Pearl called that one, “but… I appreciate that you care. Thanks.”

“I always will.” Marny returns in kind. “Just promise me that you will talk with her. It doesn’t have to be now,” he adds as a look of alarm flashes across Salmonford’s face, “but soon. And maybe apologize for whatever it was I just witnessed. She… doesn’t actually like the Team Cousins name?” Marny feels almost responsible for this blunder; after Salmonford had told him about it, he had excitedly shared the details with Pearl and Marina without any further clarification on the matter. He probably should have asked rvMatt1 for her opinion; she is LadyHood’s best friend, after all.

“She _may_ have expressed discontentment with it and I _may_ have thought it would add fuel to the fire. Get her raring to go, you know?” He coughs in embarrassment. “Just a harmless little prank, I thought. Didn’t realize she’d be up early enough to catch the morning news. I realize now that I was being stupid. Sorry for wrapping you up into my mess.”

“I’d rather not be on the receiving end of her ire.” Marny gives him a look. “So clear that one up with her as soon as possible, please. I did tell you I was going to ask her for dualies pointers sometime, but it’ll be hard to do that if she hates me.”

“Lady wouldn’t hate you.” Salmonford says immediately, the certainty in the words he speaks unwavering. “She’s always been an excellent judge in character, and besides… she already knows where the true blame lies.” He grimaces. He knows he’s dug himself into a deep hole, and Marny can only pray that he’ll find a way out of it.

“ _Five minutes ‘til show time, ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready for the start of the League season?”_ An excitable male voice blares over an intercom; he must be the chosen commentator for the first match. The assembled crowd—boy, this is quite a turnout for two otherwise unknown teams—emits a loud cheer in response. Salmonford blinks in surprise.

“Oh, squit. I promised I wouldn’t be late.” The shade-wearing Inkling pauses in his stride and turns to face Marny. Salmonford has a hard time looking into his eyes when he’s nervous, Marny realizes. He sucks in a breath and in that moment Marny witnesses a transformation; a meek boy becomes a confident one, shoulders square and eyes alight with purpose. He stares directly into Marny’s silver eyes. “I know I said you didn’t have to come, but… thank you. It means a lot.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for anything.” Marny says with a smile. “The morning broadcast _may_ have been cut short and we _may_ have broken several traffic laws to get here on time…”

Salmonford’s eyes widen like he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Really?” He thinks about it and laughs. “Wow. I thought it was odd that Pearl cut your sister off and ended the broadcast rather abruptly, but now it makes sense. You’re really something else, Marny.” Salmonford shakes his head, looking amused. His expression changes to slight panic as he catches a glimpse of the time.  “I gotta go or I’ll never hear the end of it. Watch me when I’m out there, okay? I’m going to win this one for you.”

“And your team.” Marny teases, but he can feel his cheeks burning. Cods, Salmonford is such a cool squid. Is this how Marina felt when they first met Pearl? He’s on cloud nine right now. Salmonford frees up a hand by nestling the heavy splatling in the crook of his arm and holds it out towards him in a fist. Delighted, Marny enthusiastically bumps fists for the second time in ten minutes. The Inkling grins as he hauls his weapon back up—its namesake really wasn’t kidding, the thing is a beast to lug around—and leaves him with these parting words:

“I promise.”

Salmonford has to jog to reach the purple’s team spawn pad with two minutes to spare. Marny follows at a more leisurely pace, finding it easy to find Pearl and his sister because of the star-struck crowd flocking around them. They’re both drinking iced lattes from the café behind them and Marina holds out a third untouched hot chocolate as he approaches. He smiles. She’s always known his favorite.

“How’d it go?” Marina asks him, watching as the members of Team Cousins meet on the spawn pad. Mar and Tina look ready to go; the black-haired Inkling is bouncing up and down on her heels and swaying with her shiny roller as she laughs at something her demure white-haired cousin says. Marny observes as Salmonford tentatively steps up to LadyHood and shares some words with her. He’s too far away to hear what’s being said but he can guess the nature of their conversation by Lady’s reaction. She looks reluctant to listen to him at first, perhaps only humoring him because of the proximity to their teammates, but then there’s a shift in her body language and Marny swears he can see a ghost of a smile on her lips. She pats Salmonford on the shoulder once and turns around to survey the field, straightening the beret on her head as she does.

Salmonford fulfilled his promise. Marny’s heart is filled with warmth as he replies,

“Well. It went very well, I think.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new day, a new chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it.
> 
> Marny is a character perspective that I've been planning for awhile so that we could see what's going on beyond Marie and Lady's limited views. We get to see what Pearl and Marina are like normally (which, ayyyy) and get some insight into what Octolad's up to when he's off-screen. Apparently a fair amount, hmm. ;)
> 
> Have a great weekend. <3


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